Playing With Fire and Smoke

Welcome

2006-02-20T13:22:00.000-08:00

A Note To My Readers ~ My tools have moved to my other site which is called thirdeyeBBQ.com. Stop by and see what's going on

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Statistics are showing an average of 320 visits a day to my site. The most popular pages are the Pork Butt Page, the Buckboard Bacon page, and Car Wash Mike's Baby Back Rib Class. A special welcome to my international friends. During the last year, I have received visits from 156 countries......WOW!! Barbecue is global..... and I'm proud to be just a little part of it.

Following the United States..... Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, the Philippines, the Netherlands's, Mexico, Brazil and Denmark are the countries with the most visitors. Botswana and Bolivia were at the end of the list last year with the fewest visitors (3 each), this year Belize is in the last spot with only 2 visitors.

Often, U.S. military personnel stationed around the globe cruise my recipes, and drop me a line. I bet barbecue is the second or third thing on their mind when they get back home......

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My cookin' site features a variety of recipes, tips, photographs and other information I hope you find enjoyable. Just like many of you, I am a backyard barbecuist that enjoys this wonderful hobby, cooking for family & friends.

Just click on any of the links in the Table of Contents to go to that page. To return to this homepage, just click the thirdeye's cookin' site banner at the top of any page.

~Keep your eye on your vent!! "If it's puffin' white .... it ain't right. If it's blowin' blue, it's good for Q"~~ thiredye ~~

INTRODUCTION TO BARBECUING - This is a good place to start for newbies and old hands alike. This write-up will give you some of the basics and cover a few of the terms you may encounter in other areas of my site.

RECIPES - Cookin' is what my site is all about. Mostly outdoor cooking, but I've included a few things that can be cooked indoors too. Here you will find 50+ recipes of all kinds featuring everything from brie to pig's feet. A list of recently added recipes appears at the top of the Recipe Page.

TOOLS - Here is where you can check out my ThirdHand & ThreeFinger Grate Lifting & Hanging Tools, as well as my version of a Wiggle Rod.

WEBER SMOKEY JOE "TALL BOY" SMOKER MODIFICATION - Follow these instructions to turn your Smokey Joe Grill into a smoker.

MY COOKERS - I use Big Green Eggs, Big Drum Smokers & Big Chief Smokers, I'll tell you what they are and why I like to cook on them. I also discuss some other types and brands of cookers that I really like. (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

PHOTO GALLERY - Here you will find a variety of cookin' photographs

THE WOODPILE - Information on different flavors of smoking woods, chunks, splits, chips and planks.

GUIDE TO MEAT CUTS & CUTTING MEATS - Find out where that certain steak, or roast comes from. Also see some tips for trimming and cutting a variety of things. I even show you how to de-bone a trout or salmon - -(STAY TUNED FOR PAGE UPDATES...)

CONTEST - Pepsi Wyoming State BBQ Competition - 2009 - My first competition as a KCBS Certified BBQ Judge.

WILD WEST EGGFEST 2010 - Casper, Wyoming, - A collection of Eggfest photographs

QUESTIONS & SUGGESTIONS - Your comments are important to me, here is the place to post them.

WEB SIGHTINGS- Links of all kinds can be found here.

POLLS & SITE STATS - I know what I like, and you know what you like....What about everyone else? Results of various polls and site stats can be viewed here...... You might be surprised what you find.

Welcome to the Neighborhood

2006-02-19T07:47:00.000-08:00

My cookin' site features some recipes and other information I hope you find enjoyable. Click on any of the green underlined links to go to that page. Visit the Question & Suggestion page to read or leave a comment or ask a question. For links to other sites, check out the Web Sightings page in the TIPS section.

~thirdeye~

NEW for 2008 - Videos !!!!

Cookin' Video Page

NEW in the Recipe Section:

Au jus recipe from RRP added to the Standing Rib Roast page

Austrian Potato Salad - BBQinMaineiac's favorite recipe

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Gumbo - Traditional & EZ Gumbo

The Rice - Norco's Mom's recipe with a twist

EZBB Ribs - Easy baby back ribs

The Chuck Roast page is finally up

Pig Candied Yams - A classic, modified by thirdeye

thirdeye's Grilled Fish Tacos

Plum Pork - A Chinese Appetizer

~Keep your eye on your vent!! "If it's puffin' wihite, it ain't right, If it's blowin' blue it's good for Q"~

GRATE TOOLS

If you have questions about the ThirdHand, ThreeFinger, Wiggles or Custom Tools ..... Click this link for more information.
4 NEW demonstration videos have been added. Check them out.

SNAPSHOTS

It's official.....I'm a MOINK Baller

Here is a nice birthday greeting I received in November of '06

Blast from the Past!

This is a picture of one of the first pits I ever played with fire on. It is a front loading stick burner and the grate was about 20" from the coals. A wooden cover was used for slo cooks.

Here is a home-made drum barbecue/smoker my grandpaw made in the late '60's. It had a layer of concrete in the bottom and two cooking grates.

Pork Shanks

Pork shanks are a great way to flavor a pot of beans. These are twice smoked shanks

Standing Rib Roast

Here is a bone-in Prime Rib roast cooked in a barbecue pit at 225° with a simple rub and light smoke. this one was removed at an internal temperature of 125° and rested before carving.

Loin Back Ribs

The ever growing popularity of traditional style barbecue cooked at home has grown to an almost cult-like status. "Barbecue" to most people means pork, cooked long and low. Loin Ribs also called Baby Back Ribs, are one of the quickest cooks for the backyard pit boss requiring a short prep time and 4 or 5 hours of cooking time. Here are a few racks cooked "dry" or "Memphis Style" meaning no sauce or glaze was added during cooking. All the flavor comes from a dry rub and smoke.

Spare Ribs

This is a picture of some spares I cooked on my Big Drum Smoker.

GUEST PIT BOSS

Several recipes or techniques featured below have come from other folks who have

achieved the special status of Guest Pit Boss. These recipes are published

"by invitation only" and personally tested by yours truly. Here is the list so far:

Bobberqer's Pastrami

DobieDad's Stuffed Lamb Shoulder

Fishlessman's Country Ribs

Bobbyb's Paella

Richard's Key Lime Pie

Juggy D. Beerman's Pork Steak Marinade

Chubby's Planked Brie

SmokinCoyote's Tamales

Car Wash Mike's Baby Back Ribs

Rocky Richmond shares his Buckboard Bacon technique

RRP's Au jus for standing rib (prime rib) roast

BBQinMaineiac brings Austrian potato salad to the party

Norcoredneck shares his Mom's rice recipe.

Hey Everyone .... In addition to doing a little writing for The Cook's Kitchen, I've also been asked to contribute to Get Your Grill On. Both of these sites are part of The Well Fed Network. Feel free to drop by from time to time and check them out.

My Cookers

What do I cook on? I get asked that a lot. Here is the lowdown on the cookers I currently use:

Big Green Eggs - These are ceramic cookers that can be used for barbecuing, grilling and baking. They are an upright design with a firebox in the bottom. The cooking set-up's can be direct, raised direct or indirect by using a heat barrier. Burn times on a load of lump charcoal can be 20 hours or longer. The Eggs are 4-season cookers and are unaffected by wind or cold. I have a small and a large Egg.

Big Drum Smokers - The BDS is a vertical design drum cooker. I own two of these cookers. The models I have are 43 inches tall. A charcoal basket sits near the bottom and either one or two cooking grates can be used in the upper 1/3 of the cooker. This set up allows for direct cooking in the "sweet spot", way above the coals. The fats and juices dripping into the bed of coals during the cook produce old time smells and flavors that remind me of pit style barbecue.

Big Chief Smoker - These are aluminum "box smokers" with an electric hotplate and chip pan in the bottom. They have a removable frame with adjustable racks. I use these for cold smoking cheese, smoke flavoring and drying jerky and for smoking fish. I have two of these also.

Start by reading this page. It will answer some general questions and will identify some terms you will hear.

Barbecue & Smoking Tips for Newbies

FEATURED RECIPE PAGES

APPETIZERS

Maple Planked Brie

Pig Candy - Pig Tails

Plum Pork

CHICKEN

Chicken Wings

Skinless Breasts & Thighs

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Slow Cooked Drumsticks, Thighs & Wings

BEEF

Brisket

Burnt Ends

Pastrami (smoked corned beef)

Beef Chuck Roast - Pulled or Sliced

Pepper Beef

Steak

Standing Rib Roast (Prime Rib)

Rump & Round Roasts

Smoked Beef Tongue

Tri-Tip

Beef Ribs

LAMB

Stuffed Shoulder Roast

PORK

Buckboard Bacon & Buckboard Chops

Country Style Ribs

Hocks, Shanks, Jowl & Trotters

Pork Steaks

Shoulder Roasts - Butt & Picnic

Spare Ribs - Preparation

Baby Back Ribs - Car Wash Mike's Rib Class

Baby Back Ribs - EZBB Rib Method

SAUSAGE

Fatties

Links and Bulk Sausage

Sausage Recipes

SEAFOOD

Smoked Salmon - Dry Cure Method

Grilled Fish Tacos

TURKEY

Turkey Breast - Roasting or Smoking Preparation

Turkey Drumsticks

ONE DISH MEALS

Gumbo

Paella

Big Green Eggplant Parmesan

Green Chili

SIDE DISHES

Austrian Potato Salad

Pig Candied Yams

Cowboy Potatoes

Cream Corn

Three Forks Fried Corn

Vidallia Onion Pie

Tamales

Pinto Beans

Ranch Style Beans

Ham & Beans with Corn Bread Croutons

Norcoredneck's Mom's Rice

Senate Bean Soup

DESSERTS

Key Lime Pie

RUBS, MOPS, BASTES, INJECTIONS & SAUCES

Rubs

Flavor Brines

Injections

Cuban Mojo

Green Chile Sauce

Reheating Liquids For Barbecue

WOOD INFORMATION

Smoking Woods

TIPS

Introduction to Barbecuing

FAVORITES

Web Sightings

QUESTIONS & SUGGESTIONS

Add Your Links Here

Grate Tools for Lifting Hanging or Rotating

2006-02-19T07:24:00.000-08:00

What do you use to remove your cooking grate while cleaning out the ashes and reloading your grill or smoker with fresh charcoal? Are you tired of getting your hands dirty handling your cooking grates? An extra hand would sure make things easier, so with these questions in mind, I designed a couple of tools.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ThirdHand ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The first tool I designed and fabricated is the ThirdHand, a grate lifting tool that also works as a hanging tool if you have a table or deck railing close to your cooker. The ThirdHand works on standard cooking grates found most of the major brands of grills, barbecues or smokers. In addition, the ThirdHand works on large cast iron grates. The ThirdHand is the most popular and most universal of the two grate lifting and hanging tools. Usually, I have several on the shelf ready to go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ThreeFinger ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A couple of years after introduction of the ThirdHand, I started getting requests for a tool specifically designed for lifting and hanging smaller cast iron grates and smaller standard grates on "tailgater" or camping size grills. The answer is a tool I call the ThreeFinger. It is a smaller design with shorter forks and a handle that is three fingers wide. The ThreeFinger is a special order and custom build, there may be a waiting list as I try to build several at one sitting.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SELECTION GUIDE & PRICES ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

If you are not sure which lifting tool is right for you, send me an e-mail telling me what kind of cooker(s) you have and the type of grates you are using. I can help in selecting the right tool for the job.

Prices for all tools include shipping by Priority Mail. Payment can be made by check, money order or through PayPal.

Contact me at mail.thirdeye@hotmail.com for payment information, (including PayPal instructions) or if you just have a question about any of the tools. Please put the name of the tool or "tools" in the subject line.

PRICES - Please note the prices below are in effect until January 15th 2009. Due to the increases in the cost of stainless steel and shipping, prices on all tools will be going up.

ThirdHand .......... $18 or two for $33
ThreeFinger ........ $22 or two for $40
ThirdHand & ThreeFinger ........... $36

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INSTRUCTIONS - The ThirdHand and ThreeFinger grate lifting and hanging tools are only effective when used properly. Here are some demonstration videos.

REGULAR COOKING GRATE - Tip the handle forward and slip the fork between the cross members of the grate with an approximate even spacing on each side of the center rib or ribs. Depending on the weight of your grate, select the slot which allows you the best balance and control. Usually this is the 3rd, 4th or 5th slot from the edge.

CAST IRON GRATES posed a particular problem because the unique shape of the cross members and the slot width varies a bit from each manufacturer. As you can see from the pictures, the handle must lean farther forward (almost touching the grate) to allow it to slip between the cross members. I find it easier to shift the fork to one side of the center rib, then shift back to center after they are in the slot. The fit can best be described as a "wedge fit" as the fork-to-grate contact is at the rear of the fork.

CARE & CLEANING - Wash by hand and not in the dishwasher. You may notice a slight discoloration in the weld area. This is caused by the heat of welding and is normal.

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Q & A

1. Will it work on all grills and grates?
I like the word "most". I've tried it on the grates used by a very popular brand of kettle cookers, and on my two personal ceramic cookers. Heavy cast iron grates posed a challenge because the cross bars have a unique shape. The ThirdHand may not work on all cast iron grates.

2. My ThirdHand won't work on small cast iron grates, what do I use?
I designed the ThreeFinger just for smaller cast iron grates and grates used on table top and "tailgate" style grills.

3. The handle seems backwards to me. Wouldn’t you get better leverage if it was reversed? Actually, it would take some leverage to use the ThirdHand if the handle was reversed. But I wanted a tool that did not require leverage. With proper positioning, all you do is lift.

4. Is it stainless steel or can it rust?
Yep, the ThirdHand and ThreeFinger is 1/4" diameter stainless steel and has one weld joining the two pieces. Stainless steel is just that, "stain less". It is resistant to rust and stains, not rust proof.

5. I have big hands, do they come with a bigger handle?
I thought about it, and that might be an option down the road. Remember, the tool is only in use a few seconds when removing or replacing your grate.... The handle on the ThirdHand is plenty long, which helps in the balance. The ThreeFinger needed a shorter handle to enable it to lean farther forward so the forks could slip between the crossbars. The handle is three fingers wide, hence the name. Both tools have a return bend on the end of the handle to prevent slipping.

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TESTIMONIALS

Feedback is really important, both positive and negative. A couple of months ago I made a "please give me your comments" post on several barbecue forums that I hang out on. I was afraid I had overlooked something in the design that would make this tool even easier to use. All the comments were really positive, I appreciated every ones comments!! To all you field testers, about 25 in all, thanks again for confirming that my idea was workable.

Here are just a few of the testimonials I have received:

"...works like a charm...simple but functional"
thillin

"It's a great tool...way cool"
Norcoredneck

"You just lift and the handle does all the work"
Richard FL

"...it's my MOST USED Q'n TOOL!
swamprb

"...your lifter has made me fall in love with my cast iron grate again"
Retired Railroader

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DISCLAIMER

The ThirdHand grate lifting and hanging tool was designed to lift and/or hang a cooking grate when adding charcoal or cleaning your outdoor grill or barbecue. Working around hot charcoal is dangerous. Wearing leather “welder type” gloves or special heat resistant cooking gloves is recommended. Use caution when moving or hanging a hot grate. Never set a hot grate on any surface which is not suitable for hot items, such as a wooden table or deck.

All grills, barbecues and smokers are dangerous if not used properly and correctly, and can cause serious bodily injury and property damage. I advise you to read the instructions provided by the manufacturer of your particular cooker. You as the consumer and purchaser are responsible for understanding of all owner manuals, safety literature and fire safety provided by the manufacturer. Proper clothing, eye, face, ear, and hand protection is the responsibility of the consumer.

ISC or myself are in no way responsible for any mishaps, damages, irresponsibility, loss of time, material and injuries incurred from misuse, poor training or accidents that are associated with any product sold or distributed.

Guide to Meat Cuts

2006-02-18T17:11:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I overlook the fact that cuts of meat as well as cutting and preparing meat can be confusing to some folks. To make things worse butchers just ain't what they used to be. There are still some real ones out there, and if you find one consider yourself lucky, but I'll just say they are not as common as you would expect. With this in mind you need to know your way around the meat case and not be afraid of a little cutting board work every now and then.

First I'm going to talk about names. In barbecue circles, the names we use a lot can be really confusing. Farther on down the page are some charts and some of my photographs illustrating some meat-cutting.

For example, a pork butt comes from the front of a pig (the shoulder), not the end you would expect. And a Boston butt got it's name from the wooden casks (called butts) that the "Boston cut roasts" were packed in. The blade end of the shoulder is what we generally refer to as a "butt"

You most likely know that a brisket comes from the chest of a steer, but did you know the point (or nose) is the forward end?

And speaking of steers, that is the "beef" we use for barbecue...we generally don't use cows and we almost never use bulls. What's the difference between a steer and a bull you ask? Well, a steer is lacking some .....uh, hardware so to speak.

Tri-tip - There are often regional names and nicknames for certain cuts of beef, and there are also some new names born from marketing. A tri-tip is a perfect example of this. They come from the bottom of the sirloin, and there are only two tri-tip roasts on each steer. Very popular in California around Santa Maria, where they grilled over a hot fire, they are often hard to come by in the Eastern US. Your butcher may know them as a triangle roast.

Hanging Tenders are more uncommon than tri-tip, there is only one per steer and it's about 7 or 8 inches long, and weigh a little more than a pound. NO, it's not what you are thinking (that part of a bull is measured in feet!) A hanging tender is found between the 12 & 13th rib, and can be cooked whole or cut into Hanging Tender Steaks or Onglet Steaks.

A Flat Iron Steak is relatively new, uh...wait a minute.... I mean it's always been there, but some clever folks at the University of Nebraska led a marketing plan to produce this particular cut. Technically it's a beef shoulder, top blade steak that has had the tendon removed. It is well marbled and quite flavorful. They are well worth asking for at the meat counter.... If your butcher looks at you like you've been reading some fancy cooking magazine, just tell him to look up NAMP # 1114D. Now, if he says "What's NAMP?" You might want to find another butcher.

What is NAMP? It stands for North American Meat Processors Association.
This organization publishes The Meat Buyers Guide, which assigns a number to both large and small cuts of meat. It's the meatcutters and meat buyers bible.

Surely, you have heard the expression "eatin' high on the hog", well that is referring to cuts of pork along the backbone like the loin, tenderloin and back ribs. You know the high dollar cuts.

Ever wonder how a Porterhouse steak came by that name? They were served at "Porter Houses" along the early coach routes. And you know that little muscle, the really tender one, that's the tenderloin (which is the same hunk of meat that chateaubriand is prepared with) otherwise known as a filet, or is it fillet. Heheee, either one is acceptable.

And guess what..... If you see Rocky Mountain Oysters on the menu, be advised they don't come from the ocean. Think of them as "swinging beef". I go nuts over them.

You most likely have had corned beef on St. Patrick's Day, but have you ever eaten pastrami? It's just corned beef that is seasoned and smoked. Corned beef got it's name because in the old days "corns" of salt were used to cure it.

Pork "Country Ribs" are cut from the loin in the Eastern US and from the shoulder (butt) in the Western US.

Ever hear of an Airline Breast? It's a chicken breast with one joint of the wing left on. If was served on airplanes years ago, it makes the portion look bigger.

Did you know that City Chicken is not chicken at all? Nope, it's cubes of pork and veal on a skewer, then dipped in egg and crumbs, then sauteed

A city ham is still a ham. It's the general name for a very mild and not very salty ham. Your standard grocery store hams are all city hams. A country ham on the other hand is one that is salt cured for a very long time and develops a strong flavor and can be salty if not soaked in water before cooking

We see commercials for SPAM all the time, but what does it stand for??? No, I'm not talking about the annoying pointless e-mails that show up in your in-box, I'm talking about the tinned meat product made by Hormel. SPAM is an acronym for spiced ham. The residents of Hawaii are the biggest consumers of SPAM.

I make kebabs all the time, but why did the Middle Eastern Cooks come up with idea to cube everything and cook on skewers? Well, for kind of the same reason that Chinese cooks cut up their food in to smaller pieces..... Fuel. Or lack of it. When you don't have an abundant fuel source you cook smaller pieces, which take less fuel and cook faster.

Throughout history spices have always commanded a pretty penny. Peppercorns were even used as money in certain civilizations..... why were spices in such high demand? Sure a little of this or that can dramatically change the flavor of things. But in the old days (like before refrigerators) folks were kind of limited to what they ate. Lets say all you had to eat was lamb, after a few years it would get pretty boring. A few spices would let let you change things up a little. So I guess variety really is the spice of life.

Enhanced Meats - Do you read labels or do you select meats based on appearance and price? Some pork and poultry products have labels that say "Naturally Tender", "Moist and Tender", "Guaranteed Moist", "Self Basting" or "Deep Basted". These terms indicate that they have been injected with a solution to increase moisture, give a longer shelf life and make them more tender. This all sounds dandy, but the solutions can be up to 15% of the weight, so you are paying up front for chemicals in liquid. Buy only natural meats, season and cook them properly and you will be pleased. If you want to experiment with enhancing your own meat, look into flavor brining, which works on both pork and chicken.

Speaking of labels, "FRESH Pork" means it has not been frozen or cured. We usually think of a ham as a cured product, but you can buy a fresh ham. When it's cooked it is basically roast pork.

"Previously Frozen" - This means that the meat in the counter has been frozen and now has been thawed out. Meat should be frozen one time only to avoid drying it out. When you see previously frozen meat for sale, it's okay to buy it and cook it, but I would not recommend buying it and re-freezing it.

Charts

Porterhouse & T-Bone Steak

Anatomy of a rib steak

Whole Beef Tenderloin

Whole Beef Tenderloin - Chain Removed & Cut In Sections

Whole Beef Tenderloin - Steaked Out

Chuck Roll - Section Cut

Chuck Roll - Whole

Chuck Roll - Cut Into Roasts

The shoulder clod is the next door neighbor to the chuck roll

Steps to de-bone a trout or salmon

The pin bones are simply plucked out with the forceps. Sometimes you can get 2 or 3 at the same time.

What the heck is this? Maybe a happy meal??? I think it was called "Clown Meat"

Picture Format & Templates

2006-02-18T16:26:00.000-08:00

View this information in Html in order to view codes.....

Use this for posting template

code for making a picture a hyperlink

.) How do I turn on comments for my blog?
There are three things you need to do to enable comments on your blog:

Click the 'Post Options' link in the bottom right corner of the post editor and make sure that you have allowed reader comments.
From the Layout | Page Elements tab, click 'Edit' in the Blog Posts widget. A window will pop up, and from there make sure check the comments field.
From the Settings | Comments tab, make sure that 'Show' comments is enabled. Then simply clear your cache and cookies, and then you should be all set!

...............

sample using picture above - no url to go to has been inserted

..........................

2.) Icons are missing from my post editor!

First clear your cache and cookies.

Then notice that there are two different posting modes within Blogger: 'Compose' and 'Edit HTML.' In 'Edit HTML' mode, not all of the formatting icons appear, and this is usually what trips folks up. To fix this, simply click on the "Compose" tab and you should see those missing icons appear again.

3.) How do I make a picture a hyperlink?

To make an image into a hyperlink you will need to use the following code:

First upload your picture to a post. Then switch the post editor into Edit HTML mode, and you can see the photo's URL inside an tag. Simply copy that URL into the “link_to_photograph” part of the above code, fill out the rest of the code, and you’re done!

4.) How do I add Audio to my blog?
First you will need to upload the audio file to a free file storage site. Two free media storage sites are OurMedia.org or Archive.org. Once your audio is hosted and you have a unique URL for the file, you can use this code to embed audio:

height=62 width=144 controls="console">

More suggestions here.

5.) How do I create a hyperlink?

Text to be displayed

More instructions here

6.) How do I add a favicon to my blog?

Once you have created an icon using Favicon from Pics, save it to your computer. You will need to unzip the favicon to your desktop.

Blogger does not support .ico files, so you will need to upload it to a free file host.

To find a free file host enter the keywords “free file host” into your Google search bar, or you can upload your icon to Fileden.com.

Once you have done that, copy the url to your icon.

Next go to your Blogger admin panel and click on the template tab and then on Edit HTML.

Copy and paste the following code into your template.

Replace Your_Favicon_Url with the link to where you stored your icon. Place the above code between the and tags of your blog.

Save the template. Now refresh your page and you should see your icon in the corner of your page.

Weber Smokey Joe "Tall Boy" Smoker Conversion

2006-02-18T14:30:00.000-08:00

As anyone in grilling circles knows, Weber grills set the benchmark. I've had several over the years, and still have the Smokey Joe model which I use when camping or on fishing trips. It's a very portable grill and has always served me well.

For smoking, Weber makes a Smokey Mountain also known as a WSM. These are a bullet style smoker loaded with features and Weber quality. A couple of years ago on barbecue forums and websites I started seeing modifications that folks had done to a Smokey Joe to transform that grill into a smoker, similar to a WSM. I finally got around to doing that modification and here are the results.

The key component to this build is a IMUSA 32Qt Tamale / Seafood Steamer, which is available at WalMart in stores or online for around $25. This particular pot nests perfectly into the base of the Smokey Joe, and the lid is a perfect fit. The grate fits snugly inside the steamer.

The factory lid and perforated steamer rack were not needed in my build, but the rack did come in handy for finding the center of the bottom which must be cut out.

Once the center point is marked, drill a pilot hole and insert a self tapping sheet metal screw about halfway in the hole. Measure 7/8" from the edge of the steamer and make a reference mark. Next, using the screw as a pivot point, use a string and a marker to mark a circle.

Double check your measurement - "Measure twice, cut once" is the best advice here.

I opted to use an angle grinder with a cut-off wheel for the major cuts. A jigsaw with a metal cutting blade may also work. I made a series of relief cuts, then followed my circle.

After removing the bottom, use a sanding disk or Dremel tool with a grinding wheel to remove the burrs, then hand sand with 300 grit followed by 800 grit sandpaper.

Until I locate the "sweet spot" for my grate height, I opted to make some clips to hold the grate. This way, I can try several heights before adding some permanent bolts to support the grate. As you can see, the clips passed the weight test using 3 gallons of water.

For my thermometer I chose a Tel Tru 150° to 750°, 5" stem model with a calibration nut. It cost $20 and is the same model I use on my Big Green Eggs.

The next part of the build is a charcoal basket, because I prefer using natural lump charcoal. My basket has a bottom circle of expanded steel and a charcoal ring wired to the bottom circle. The original charcoal grate is still used under my charcoal basket. I also made a mini ring that will be used for shorter cooks, it just sits inside the larger ring.

I wanted an option of a drip pan / heat shield for cooking indirect, and there is a natural ledge toward the bottom of the steamer (that is where the perforated steamer rack fits), an additional grate would fit on that ledge and could hold a drip pan, however that location is really close to the charcoal basket. My next step was to fabricate a double ring. The large diameter ring sits on the ledge, the smaller ring is attached to risers to get it farther away from the charcoal basket and it's sized to fit a standard pie pan.

So far, I've only done a few test cooks so I'll be updating this page from time to time, especially if I make additional modifications. I would appreciate any and all feedback/tips/suggestions from my readers as this is a popular build and only set me back about $75.

ThirdHand - Grate Lifting & Hanging Tool

2006-02-18T12:35:00.000-08:00

The Tool That Started It All........

It has always been the disposition, if not the prerogative, of mankind to boast of the tools with which he works.
Ramon F. Adams (1889-1976)

NEW SITE NOTICE -- 1-3-2010--- Please click this link to my new tool site thirdeyeBBQ . Tool pages, pricing and order pages are up and running. For orders, I have a standardized fill-in-form, which helps me with order tracking. And it will save us both a couple of e-mails back and forth just to get the information and order conformation in your hands.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Tools ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

What do you use to remove your cooking grate while cleaning out the ashes and reloading your grill or smoker with fresh charcoal? Are you tired of getting your hands dirty handling your cooking grates? An extra hand would sure make things easier.... With that idea in mind, I designed a couple of grate lifting and hanging tools. I've also added two styles of wiggle rods to the line up. One is a T-Handle, the second is a Double-L.

Even though these are specialized tools, they are meant to be used every time you use your barbecue, grill or smoker. Material used for fabrication is Grade 304 Stainless Steel, with TIG welded connections.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Products & Selection Guide ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ThirdHand - This lifting tool is used on all standard grates on almost every major brand of grill or smoker. In addition, it will also work on a cast iron grate on a large and XL Big Green Egg. This is the most popular lifting tool.

ThreeFinger- This tool is needed if you have a small or medium cast iron grate. It will also work on some of the tiny tailgate sized grills on the market.

The ThreeFinger shown with a small cast iron grate. The fit is the same for a medium cast iron grate.

This view shows the typical engagement of the forks and the "wedge fit" in a small cast iron grate.

Wiggle Rods - The T-Handle wiggle are sized for a particular cooker. The Double-L wiggle rods can be used on two different sized cookers, each L is cut to a different length. Other "custom sized" wiggle rods are available, just contact me.

Here is a picture showing the Double-L wiggle rods and the NEW T-Handle Wiggle Rod, which now features a loop handle. (Double-L wiggles will have custom cut "L lengths" on each end)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ThirdHand ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Back in 2006, I called the first grate tool I designed and fabricated the ThirdHand, a grate lifting tool that also works as a hanging tool if you have a table or deck railing close to your cooker. The ThirdHand works on standard cooking grates found most of the major brands of grills, barbecues or smokers. In addition, the ThirdHand works on large cast iron grates. The ThirdHand is the most popular and most universal of the two grate lifting and hanging tools. Usually, I have several on the shelf ready to go.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ThreeFinger ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A short while after introduction of my first tool, I started getting requests for a tool specifically designed for lifting and hanging small and medium cast iron grates as well as smaller grates on "tailgater" or camping size grills. The answer was another original designed tool I call the ThreeFinger. It's a smaller tool with shorter forks and a handle that is three fingers wide.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wiggle Rods ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As I cruise around on barbecue forums, I just hate to see threads with a title something like "Help!!! My Fire Went Out". A wiggle rod is kind of an ash maintenance tool. Mine are fabricated from 5/32" diameter stainless steel rod. Wiggling your charcoal can help a stubborn fire get going, promote even burning, and is a little insurance during an all night cook when you want to catch some ZZZZZ's.

The most popular style is the T-Handle Wiggle Rod. They have a "L" on one end and my version has a "T" handle on the other. The "L" reaches up through the charcoal grate on ceramic cookers, or up through the bottom of the charcoal basket on drum cookers to stimulate air flow, and dislodge ash. The overall length and the "L" length are sized to your specific cooker. I'll need to know what you're cooking on.

The new Double-L wiggle rods have an "L" on each end, but they are custom cut to different lengths for different cookers. Perfect if you have a pair of cookers in your backyard. You just hold one of the L's in your hand in a pistol grip fashion while wiggling the lump with the other L.

Picture Gallery

2006-02-18T08:44:00.000-08:00

Here is a birthday greeting I received in '06

This is a picture of one of the first pits I ever played with fire on. It is a front loading stick burner and the grate was about 20" from the coals. A wooden cover was used for slo cooks.

Here is a home-made drum barbecue/smoker my grandpaw made in the '60's. It had a layer of concrete in the bottom and two cooking grates. If you look close, you can see a little chair by the cooker.....that was mine.

I have been lucky enough to win some photo "Throwdown" contests on The BBQ Brethren Forum in '08 and '09. These contests get between 7 to 25 or so entries, and the winner is selected by peoples choice. These are really fun, and have improved my photo taking skills tremendously.

It's official, I'm a MOINK Baller

Here are some of my favorite barbecue photographs I've taken over the years.

Pork Shanks

Pork shanks are a great way to flavor a pot of beans. These are twice smoked shanks

Standing Rib Roast

Here is a bone-in Prime Rib roast cooked in a barbecue pit at 225° with a simple rub and light smoke. this one was removed at an internal temperature of 125° and rested before carving.

Loin Back Ribs

Spare Ribs

This is a picture of some spares I cooked on my Big Drum Smoker.

I use my Big Green Egg just like an oven. Here is some Big Green Eggplant Parmesan. A little smoke gives the cheese a great flavor.

Chicken and Cheese Quesadillas cooked on the Egg.

Potato Pizza with baked potato toppings - sour cream, green onions and bacon crumbles - cooked on the Big Green Egg

Smoked Peppercorn Salmon, with red and green peppercorns. This was smoked in my Big Chief

Pork Steaks with a raised direct set-up on the Egg

Hot dog lunch cooking on a cast iron griddle - using a spider in the Egg.

Pork butts and smoked onions in Tom's big horizontal smoker

Butts and brisket cooking in a Big Drum Smoker

Ready to prep 62 pounds of brisket and chuck roll for an all night cook

A skin-on picnic shoulder in the Big Drum Smoker

Buckboarded and smoked pork chops. These are fantastic.

Beef Jerky with Hi Mountain jerky cure

Drumsticks cooked on a rack in the Big Drum Smoker

Thighs cooked the same day

Smoked turkeys for holiday presents

Cutting up points for burnt ends

Sliced brisket

To Be Continued...

ThirdHand & ThreeFinger Picture Gallery

2006-02-18T06:35:00.000-08:00

ThirdHand on standard grate

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ThirdHand on cast iron grate

ThreeFinger on small cast iron grate

ThirdHand on "Adjustable" from CeramicGrillStore.com

Recipes

2006-02-18T05:47:00.000-08:00

These are some of my favorite recipes. All of them have been tested by yours truly and many include some history, personal cooking notes or variations that you may want to try.

Several recipes or techniques featured below have come from other folks who have achieved the special status of Guest Pit Boss. Following testing, these recipes are published "by invitation only". The contributions may be a full recipe, another version similar to one of my favorites, just some tips, or maybe something like a sauce. Some of Guest Pit Boss recipes have their own page, and some are a part of an existing page. Here is the list so far:

GUEST PIT BOSSES

Bobberqer's Pastrami

DobieDad's Stuffed Lamb Shoulder

Fishlessman's Country Ribs

Bobbyb's Paella

Richard's Key Lime Pie

Juggy D. Beerman's Pork Steak Marinade

Chubby's Planked Brie

SmokinCoyote's Tamales

Car Wash Mike's Baby Back Ribs

Rocky Richmond shares his Buckboard Bacon technique

RRP's Au jus for standing rib (prime rib) roast

BBQinMaineiac brings Austrian potato salad to the party

Norcoredneck shares his Mom's rice recipe.

Goose gives up his Hi Heat Brisket technique

Old Dave's Turkey Injection

Lynne shows us how to start the day with Breakfast Bacon

RECENT ADDITIONS to the Recipe Section

Lemon Breasted Beer Can Chicken - A new twist on an a classic presentation

Hi Heat Brisket - How one Briskateer does it.

thirdeye's Quest For a Perfect Thigh - A journey Not A Destination

Old Dave's Turkey Injection - An injectable honey brine

thirdeye's Pastramied Turkey Breast

Beer Pan Chicken aka Fallen Down Drunken Chicken

Grilled and Planked Salmon Techniques

thirdeye's Smoke Ring Page - What Are They & How To Get One

thirdeye's Lite Brine & Lite Brine Injection notes
added to the Flavor Brine page

Pork Belly Breakfast Bacon - Lynne's curing and smoking technique

Elote - Mexican Grilled Corn - My version of a classic street food.

Chislic - If you're from South Dakota you know all about chislic and beer. If not, here is a great bar snack that is really easy to make.

RECIPE SECTION

APPETIZERS

Maple Planked Brie

Chislic

Pig Candy - Pig Tails

Plum Pork

CHICKEN

Chicken Wings

Lemon Breasted Beer Can Chicken

Beer Pan Chicken aka Fallen Down Drunken Chicken

The Perfect Thigh - A Work In Progress

Skinless Breasts & Thighs

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Slow Cooked Drumsticks, Thighs & Wings

BEEF

Brisket

Goose's Hi-Heat Brisket

Burnt Ends

Pastrami (smoked corned beef)

Beef Chuck Roast - Pulled or Sliced

Pepper Beef

Steak

Standing Rib Roast (Prime Rib)

Rump & Round Roasts

Smoked Beef Tongue

Tri-Tip

Beef Ribs

LAMB

Stuffed Shoulder Roast

PORK

Buckboard Bacon & Buckboard Chops

Lynne's Breakfast Bacon - Home Made Bacon from Pork Belly

Country Style Ribs

Hocks, Shanks, Jowl & Trotters

Pork Steaks

Shoulder Roasts - Butt & Picnic

Spare Ribs - Preparation

Baby Back Ribs - Car Wash Mike's Rib Class

Baby Back Ribs - EZBB Rib Method

SAUSAGE

Fatties

Links and Bulk Sausage

Sausage Recipes

SEAFOOD

Smoked Salmon - Dry Cure Method

Grilled Salmon and Planked Salmon

Grilled Fish Tacos

TURKEY

Turkey Breast - Roasting or Smoking Preparation

Turkey Drumsticks

Pastramied Turkey Breast & Old Dave's Turkey Injection

ONE DISH MEALS

Gumbo

Paella

Big Green Eggplant Parmesan

Green Chili

SIDE DISHES

Austrian Potato Salad

Pig Candied Yams

Cowboy Potatoes

Cream Corn

Three Forks Fried Corn

Elote - Mexican Grilled Corn

Vidallia Onion Pie

Tamales

Pinto Beans

Ranch Style Beans

Ham & Beans with Corn Bread Croutons

Norcoredneck's Mom's Rice

Senate Bean Soup

DESSERTS

Key Lime Pie

RUBS, MOPS, BASTES, INJECTIONS & SAUCES

Rubs

Flavor Brines - Traditional Brines, Lite Brine
& Lite Brine Injection

Injections for Briskets and Butts

Cuban Mojo

Green Chile Sauce

Reheating Liquids For Barbecue

Smoke Rings - What Are They & How To Get One?

The Smoke Ring Page

Video Page

2006-02-17T15:16:00.000-08:00

In 2008 I'm going to have some fun recording some cookin' videos. I'm still learning the ropes, but here are some samples.

Chile Roasting Video #1 - These peppers were roasted in my BDS using a weed burner. Once they are blistered on one side, the peppers are rotated and blistered on the other side. Next they move into a paper bag to steam.

Chile Roasting Video #2

Fire Starting Video #1 - Showing fire starting for a grilling fire in my Big Green Egg using a weed burner. The process is shown start to finish which takes 2 minutes. Starting different fires is discussed below, generally I will start either a 2 minute fire or a 1 minute fire. (A mapp torch or electric starter coil will require different amounts of time than with the trusty weed burner, and they are not as much fun!)

Notice some smaller chips of flavor wood are mixed within the lump, and some larger splits are on top. The particular 2 minute fire shown will be used for cooking with a raised direct set-up, and a temperature at the grate around 275° to 300°. Perfect for medium temperature grilling for things like chicken or pork chops. In this particular set-up, the amount of lump used is the minimum amount needed for a good fire, while still allowing maximum distance from the coals to the grate. If I was grilling a steak or some thick chops, I would build and start the same (2 minute) kind of fire, but I would have the grate in the normal position, sitting on the fire ring. The actual cooking temperature at the grate would be 400° or higher, depending on vent settings.

If I was using the same set-up (raised direct) for cooking something like a pork steak or some slow cooked chicken, the fire would be adequately started after about 1minute. This would give me 250° to 275° at the grate.

If I was preparing a fire for a lo-n-slo brisket or butt cook, I would have the level of lump about halfway up the fire ring. I would start a one minute fire, concentrating the weed burner on the center of the pile, and adding larger pieces (several splits) of flavor wood last. A lo-n-slo set-up would involve the use of a heat barrier like a plate setter, pizza stone or some fire brick.

Pork Steak Video #1 - Pork steaks are cut from a pork butt and a really easy cook. These were seasoned with salt and pepper, then brushed with mustard. I used a raised direct set-up and dome temps of 250° through 315°. This cook took a little over an hour and the steaks were pulled at 180° internal.

thirdeye's Poll Page

2006-02-16T11:28:00.000-08:00

Stats - Here are some site stats in 2009 that I found interesting.

Page views per day - 300 average
Most popular pages are: Pastrami, Car Wash Mike's Baby Back Rib Class, Buckboard Bacon and Brisket.
Visitors have come from 51 different countries/territories, the most popular are: United States, Canada, Australia, United Kingdom and Denmark.
States where the most visitors live are: California, Texas, Florida, Georgia and New York
Cities where the most visitors live are: New York, NY - Atlanta, GA, - Alexandria, VA - Houston, TX - Los Angeles, CA and Dallas, TX

Below you will find the final results of the polls posted here on Playing With Fire and Smoke, as well as other polls that may be of interest.

Christmas 2008 "What's on the Christmas menu for 2008" Poll. With 446 replies, here are the top 4 answers:

Prime Rib - 54%
Ham - 26%
Turkey - 25%
Brisket - 8%

"How did you find my cookin' site poll - February, March 2009 - With 558 responses, here are the results:

From The Big Green Egg Forum - 52%
From The BBQ Brethren Forum - 17%
From a Google search - 14%

Visitor profile poll - February, March 2009 - With 477 responses, here are the responses:

58% are first time visitors
23% are monthly visitors
22% come to my site to look for new ideas
14% have tried at least 3 recipes
5% are ThirdHand owners

What's Cooking July 4th Poll - 2009. With 367 responses, here are the results:

46% chose ribs
30% went with pork butt
21% are cooking chicken
20% picked brisket
Burgers and sausages tied with 18%

What's your favorite thing to cook? A poll from September 2009. With 404 responses, here are the results:

43% said ribs were their favorite cook
30% voted for pork shoulder
23% listed steaks and chops
Brisket came in forth place

What's cooking for Thanksgiving? A 2009 poll. With 385 responses, the results say it all...

72% are cooking a whole turkey
18% are cooking a turkey breast

What's cooking for St Patricks Day. A 2010 poll with 109 responses, the results are:

48% Traditional corned beef dinner
24% Pastrami
17% Brisket

Pepsi Wyoming State BBQ Championship 2009

2006-02-15T15:48:00.000-08:00

For me, the trip from Casper, Wyoming to the State BBQ Championship in Worland, Wyoming is not that bad of a drive. It involves heading due west for about 100 miles, then turning north for about 60 more. The funny thing is, it took me four years to get there.

Barbecue in Wyoming is not that common, it’s usually cooked in backyards, and most folks get it confused with grilling. Championship barbecue is very rare. So when Worland hosted their first KCBS contest four years ago, I planned on driving up there and checking it out. As an added bonus that year, they offered a KCBS Judging Class. I had wanted to be a certified judge for years. Well, work got in the way and I didn’t get to make the trip. I don’t think there was a Judges class the next year, and for whatever reason I didn't make the following year either. 2009 was different. I signed up for the Judges class early, then made all the necessary arrangements with work. (actually things just worked out for a change) On the morning I was set to leave town, a foot injury was diagnosed as requiring minor surgery, which was scheduled for the following week. My choices were limping around the house, or limping around Worland and eating some really good barbecue. I picked the latter. On top of the Judges class, I had two online friends that were cooking this year, so I wanted to put a face to the name. About 20 miles outside of Worland, I came upon a motor home pulling an outfit that may have looked strange to some folks, but not to me. It was my buddy "T", pulling "Showtime", a custom built cooker of his own design.

That first evening I was in town was the Judges class, and it went off very well. These things take about 4 hours and are 50% instructional and 50% hands-on. The KCBS representatives did an excellent job explaining and interpreting the rules. The hands-on portion involves the appearance, taste, and evaluating the texture of the four basic meats. Chicken, pork ribs, pork shoulder, and beef brisket are the standard line-up at all KCBS competitions so we had samples of all these to work with. In addition to experiencing a wide range of quality, we really had to pay attention to technical details, as there were some intentional violations thrown in to make sure the Judges were paying attention.

The reason for using certified judges is simple..... barbecue competitors deserve accurate, and consistent judging. They are serious about what they cook, take pride in their food and spend a lot of time and money when competing. They are constantly critiquing their own barbecue, both in practice and on the day on the event. Personal satisfaction and bragging rights are one thing, but in addition to a trophy or some prizes, the top places receive a check.

All that said, it’s important to point out that not everyone in the judges class would be judging in two days. Some of the folks were competitors. They told me it’s a good idea for them to become a certified judge, so they would know what to expect. On top of us new judges, quite a few other certified judges had signed up to judge this competition. Most had two to five contests under their belt and one had judged ten times. These folks enjoy traveling from event to event just like the competitors.

The day before the contest is the perfect time for wandering around the cooks area. It’s open to the public and most teams have their banners and an awning or tent set up. Some have items for sale or trophies displayed, and every one is super friendly. For me, it was great to renew friendships with T and Bossman.

Until now, I had only visited with them on barbecue forums and through e-mails. We swapped stories, I got a tour of their cooker and of course had time to take a lot of pictures. I guess of the 30 teams on site, I visited with about half of them.

Later that day the KCBS BBQ Tour did some grilling demonstrations, food vendors opened their stands, kegs of beer were tapped, bluegrass bands took the stage and the horseshoe pits were opened for business.

Much later that evening, the teams would be firing their cookers and getting the heavy meats like shoulder and brisket prepped and on their cookers.

A skilled competition cook knows their cooker (or cookers) like the back of his or her hand. They have already taken altitude, a variety of weather conditions, and fuel choice into consideration when putting their game plan together. During the night however, Mother Nature decided to shed some tears, actually a lot of tears. This can cause some problems when it comes to a steel pit with a wood or charcoal fire. I awoke about 2:30AM to serious thunder and a wonderful lightening storm, then drifted back to sleep listening to a light rain. Across town at the fairgrounds, the cooks didn't have it so easy.

Contest day is all business for the competitors and the judges. Judges are not allowed to fraternize with the teams on this day and frankly, the cooks were most likely too busy for that anyways. Food must be presented to the judges building on 30 minute intervals beginning at noon, so timing is a critical. Once the entries are delivered, a confidential numbering system is used to track the special turn in boxes and the Judges scoring slips. KCBS representatives are monitoring the entire process, and have final decisions concerning interpretations of rules. The support people were all local volunteers, and I guess we could have not asked for a better group of folks. As an extra bonus for this competition, two additional categories were added. These were lamb and sauce.

The quality of the food presented to my judging table represented the best of the best from a teams cooker on that particular day. Six individual portions are the minimum turn in amount for each category. If a meat is pulled or chopped, there must be enough to allow for six portions. The majority of the items I judged were well above average in appearance, taste and texture. Two entries that scored high on my card was a boneless thigh that had near perfect bite through skin, and a spare rib that had a wonderful texture and a sauce with a honey back flavor. A couple of shoulder entries were presented in slices instead of the more traditional pulled pork. Only one brisket entry out of the six I saw included meat from the point.

The award ceremony took about an hour. One cook, John from Parrothead Smokers was in the groove, taking two first places and two second places. It was no surprise that when the numbers were tallied, he also took the Grand Champion position. Several other teams were in the money two or maybe three times.

Eggfest ~ Wild West Eggfest, Casper Wyoming

2006-02-15T13:31:00.000-08:00

The 2010 Wild West Eggfest was my first one and it was a blast. This first year was a parking lot fest held at Porter's, the local Big Green Egg Dealer. Each 2 person team of guest cooks were set-up with a new BGE, a covered shelter and tables. In addition to myself, my group consisted of cookin' buddies, Bart, Shawn and Phil. We had two large Eggs to cook on. Cooks provide their own food and this year it was BYOB. In order for folks to experience some traditional barbecue, I did an all night cook, smoking two pork butts which came off my Egg at home at 7AM and stored in an insulated cooler and pulled on-site. We served plates of pulled pork as well as pulled pork sliders. At the fest we cooked pizzas (traditional and ones with flour tortilla crusts), fatties, marinated flat iron steaks, planked salmon and grilled bananas. Phil brought along a 6 gallon keg of homemade beer to wet our thirst.

The morning started off with pizzas off the Papa Murphy's Egg, these were cinnamon swirl breakfast pizzas, and by mid morning regular pizzas were being served about every half hour or so. These are take-and-bake pizzas and were cooked on the same little trays like you use in the oven. They were delicious.

The other cooks really outdid themselves, and there was a huge variety of food cooked this day. My favorite was some domestic lamb. It was cooked to perfection and there was plenty to go around.

~This Page Is Under Construction~

2006-01-30T12:26:00.000-08:00

Introduction to Barbecuing

2004-02-09T09:41:00.000-08:00

The nature of this page allows for plenty of additions because I never stop learning or asking questions, but the object is to keep it simple.

A lot of people don’t understand the difference between grilling, barbecuing and smoking.... and the terms are sometimes used a bit out of context. It's really quite simple .... Grilling seals in the juices from the meat you are cooking in just a matter of minutes because you use a high direct heat. This same direct heat cooks the product in a short amount of time. Items suited for grilling are steaks, hamburgers, chops and boneless chicken pieces. Barbecuing is a long, slow, low-heat method that uses charcoal or wood coals to cook the meat. When smoke is used for flavor you are actually cooking with smoke or "smoke-cooking". A barbecue pit design can be indirect by utilizing a heat barrier between the coals and the product or by the use of a firebox separated or "offset" from the cooking chamber. The set-up can also be direct, like in an open pit or vertical drum cooker, the key here being two or three feet of distance from the coals to the food. Barbecuing is ideally suited for large pieces of meat with a high fat content like whole pigs, shoulders, briskets or ribs. Smaller items like, pork steaks, chicken pieces or sausages can also be barbecued. Smoking on the other hand means smoking meats with smoke. Depending on the method (cold-smoking or hot-smoking) smoked products may or may not require additional cooking following smoking. Smoked products generally require some sort of a cure to enhance flavor, color and texture and also because smoking takes hours, sometimes even days or weeks. Bacon, hams, certain varieties of sausages, salmon and cheeses are examples of products that are smoked.

Barbecuing is not an absolute science. It is an art form that takes patience and practice. There are many different styles, flavors and techniques to explore. This page is a collection of basic back porch tips along with some things you might want to do, and some things you most likely don't want to do. This information should help the beginner make barbecuing a little easier. Through trial and error you will discover your own likes and dislikes. Although cooking with hardwood coals is the most traditional form of barbecue, it probably is a little complex for a beginner so here we will concentrate on cooking with charcoal.

PLANNING
First off, you need to allow plenty of time for barbecuing. Don’t get in a hurry. You will find that many times, preparation the day before will be worth the extra effort. Barbecuing means a long, slow cook. You will be cooking at temperatures from 200° to 250°. A rack of ribs will take 4 to 6 hours. A pork butt or brisket may take three time that long. Start the fire early. Cook more than you plan on eating, so you have a little to give to friends and neighbors or just for some leftovers. If you are doing a long cook, put on some wings or sausages for snacking.

PRACTICE
Great barbecue is a journey, not a destination. Barbecue may look easy when someone else cooks it. The recipes generally don't have a lot of ingredients. The cuts of meat are very common. Don't be fooled, there are a lot of hidden variables. There is a BIG difference between good barbecue and great barbecue. You will be very lucky if you make good barbecue on the first couple of cooks. It may take years before you make great barbecue. So before you serve barbecue to a house full of guests or the preachers wife...practice, practice, practice.

COOKING LOG
Do get in the habit of recording the details of your cooks. Keep track of the type of product, seasonings, preparation, cooking temperatures and times, basting, type of sauce etc. Accept any comments and criticism with an open mind. If you need to make changes, don’t adjust too many things at once. Change one or two things at a time.

THE COOKER
Many pit masters agree that “it’s the cook, not the cooker” but you must figure out your cooker and its capabilities. Learn how to set the vents for different types of cooks. Practice temperature control. Learn how to set up for direct and indirect cooking. If your cooker can also function as high temperature grill, you have the best of both worlds.

THE FIRE
Use a good quality hardwood charcoal. If you are using a kettle, bullet or a horizontal cooker, you can experiment with briquettes and lump charcoal. Ceramic cookers work best with lump charcoal. You must use enough charcoal to have a burn time longer than your estimated cooking time. It takes around an hour for a fire to become established. Light the charcoal using a propane weed burner, a plumbers torch, a chimney, an electric coil, or starter cubes but DON’T use lighter fluid.

The charcoal in my Big Drum Smoker, or my Smokey Joe Custom Tall Boy is contained in a charcoal basket. I use a small torch with the Smokey Joe, and a weed burner to light the BDS. It's easy to add more charcoal to the Smokey Joe, and the BDS has a large enough basket to have a 10 to 12 hour burn time. With either of these cookers flavor wood can be mixed within the lump before lighting, and/or added during the cook.

Here is how I build a fire in my Big Green Egg. The process is more detailed because it's harder to add charcoal and wood to an Egg during a cook. I will use a handful or two of flavor wood chips, and 4 to 10 "splits", which are 3/4" X 3" pieces of flavor wood that I have split down from a fist sized chunk.

Step 1. Add a few large pieces of lump to the firebox. Large pieces are less likely to choke off the air flow. Sprinkle a few chips into the lump, add a little more lump, then add a few of the splits. I prefer a wagon wheel arrangement with the splits. Notice only the firebox is full, and I lit the lump in one central spot. This would be a good fire for ribs or sausage. And if I wanted a higher temp "grilling fire" I would light the lump in 3 spots.

Step 2. For a longer burning "barbecue fire" add another layer of lump, a few more chips, a couple of splits. Repeat this process until you have adequate lump for the length of burn you are doing. Then light the lump in one central spot. Here is a barbecue fire, this will be a long burning fire for ribs, butts or brisket. There is no need to add more charcoal or more flavor wood to this fire as it should cook for 16 or 18 hours in the 250° range.

Step 3. Once the fire is lit, I add a plate setter. I use a couple of inverted pieces of 1/2" angle iron to allow an air gap for my drip pan. The empty drip pan goes on the plate setter, followed by the cooking grate. I don't use any liquid in my drip pan. If you want to add liquid to the drip pan, heat it up first. There is no reason to waste energy from your charcoal for heating liquid. Now all you need to do is wait for the bad smoke to burn off, and you can start cookin'. (see the next section on SMOKE)

THE SMOKE
Guess what, you don’t always have to use smoke when you barbecue!!! However, it’s no secret that most folks do like a smokey flavor on their barbecue. Everyone has a different smoke threshold so you must be careful that you don’t over-smoke your product. If you’re using lump charcoal, it gives off a little smokey flavor on its own. Make sure to let the smoke from wood chunks or chips settle down before loading your cooker. Keep a watchful eye on your top vent or stack. A white smoke plume, billowing from your vent will most likely impart a bitter flavor and maybe a residue on your product. A light gray or blue smoke whiff is what you are after. This is one of the hardest things for a beginner to grasp so here are two pictures that “thillin” took of his Klose smoker with an offset firebox. In this type of cooker, the smoke moves from the firebox, across the cooking chamber and out the stack.

These pictures were taken just minutes apart and show the smoke in the final stages of settling down for a good long cook.

The next two pictures are of my Large Big Green Egg. On this cooker, the firebox is directly below the grate. Again the top picture is blowin' too much white smoke. The fire has not settled down yet.

About 30 minutes later, the smoke is just right. You can see just a whiff against the background of my neighbors roof.

Here is a picture taken by "Scotty's Inferno" showing a nice mellow smoke coming from his Big Green Egg. I think Scott described this sweet blue smoke perfectly saying "you almost wonder if it's even there".

You can tell by the number of pictures of top vents just how I feel about getting the smoke right. Here are two more in daylight. The dome temperature is 350°. In the top picture the smoke is trying to settle down, but it is not ready yet.

This picture was taken 15 minutes later. Now the smoke is ready to meet the meat.

Here is one more that really shows off the "sweet blue" color of good smoke.

Start experimenting with fruit woods like apple and cherry before using heavier woods like oak or hickory. Experiment with using your chips or chunks dry verses soaking them in water. Also try mixing small chunks or chips throughout the charcoal instead of using one or two large chunks. For a flavor twist, toss an onion into the coals.

An exception to this rule would be tossing a handful of chips into the red-hot coals just before grilling a steak or some burgers. When grilling, the vents are open more and the smoke will pass through your cooker faster.

SEASONINGS
The goal is to compliment the flavor of the meat, without overpowering it. For starters, try out a few good quality commercial rubs or a mixture of your favorite seasonings sprinkled or rubbed into your product. Experiment to find the flavor combinations that you like.

There are many starter rub recipes on internet recipe sites, internet Q- forums or in the many barbecue cookbooks. Explore marinades, basting liquids and injections too. DON’T apply sauces too early during the cook, wait until the end or serve them at the table.

THE COOK
Start out with easy cooks. Use a thermometer to monitor the temperature at the grate as well as your product. Remote "polder type" cable thermometers work well because the probe can be clipped to the grate and you do not have to open the lid to monitor the temperature. An inexpensive oven thermometer sitting on the grate works too. When taking internal temperature readings on meat, make sure the thermometer is not close to bone or stuck into a pocket of fat, both of these locations will give you false readings. Bone is a good conductor of heat and will give you a false high reading. Pockets of fat don't conduct heat as well as the surrounding muscle (meat) so they will show a false low reading.

Chicken, sausage links & logs, or country-style ribs (cut from a pork shoulder) are good starters. Whenever possible, cook meat on the bone. Spare ribs take a little more time and effort. A pork butt is a good choice for your first long “low and slow” cook. Turn or rotate your product the minimum number of times for even doneness, even color or if you have a hot spot in your cooker. Keep a close eye on your first few “all night” cooks. Too often the fire dies out in the early stages of the cook and goes unnoticed, resulting in food safety issues. Until you learn your cooker and how meat cooks, don't be too concerned with using "low and slow" pit temps around 200°. They can be hard to hold. Considering an average butt or brisket, a pit temp between 230° and 250° is usually adequate to insure an internal temperature of 140° or higher in the first 4 or 5 hours of your cook. Some cookers are more reliable than others but another good rule is to check your pit temp every 3or 4 hours, especially on overnight cooks.

Finding the right balance of pit temperature and time will make all of your grilled or barbecued meast tender and moist. Some meats have a higher fat content than others. A chicken breast for example is much leaner than a chicken thigh. Pork loin and tenderloin is much leaner than meat from the shoulder or rib areas. Fat does add flavor and helps keep meat moist, and generally speaking higher fat cuts have a broader window for doness than leaner cuts of meat. Going back to the chicken example, breasts are done when their internal temperature is between 160 and 165 degrees, much higher and they will be dry and tough. Chicken thighs on the other hand should be cooked into the high 170's or low 180's and they will still be moist and tender.

Meat is made of strands proteins and when you add heat (energy) to a protein you are breaking down it's structure. This relaxes the strands of protein making it more flexable and tender. However, if you add too much heat or too much heat too fast, the protein won't relax the way you had planned, and the meat can be tough. A good example is a steak.... they are pretty tender to start with so they can be cooked at higher temps for a short period of time. As a steak moves from raw to rare to medium rare it gets more tender as the protiens relax. As it passes through the medium, then medium well, then into well done range, the strands of protiens are tightening up, and moisture is getting squeezed out of the meat, so it gets tougher the more it's cooked. The same thing can happen to pork chops or white meat on chickens or turkey.

One thing you will notice when barbecuing heavier meats high in fat like brisket and pork shoulder is a stall in internal temperature during the cook. This "plateau" will happen around 160°, and sometimes takes several hours. Then the internal temperature will begin to rise again. The plateau happens because collagen in the meat is being converted into gelatin. When this happens, we get a tender and moist piece of meat that is worth the wait.

If you are really watching your internal thermometer, you might even notice a drop in the internal temperature. The reason behind the drop in meat temp is basically because the energy from the heat is going into the conversion process instead of into the meat. Think of it this way, the flow of liquefied collagen & fat is stealing heat out of the meat. As the conversion comes to an end, the heat starts going back into the meat.

TEMPERATURE GUIDE - The temperature ranges below have worked for me when considering moistness and tenderness of the finished product. The USDA has a different range of temperatures they recommend for food safety. Click on this link to learn more: USDA

Finding your personal sweet spot for doneness (target doneness) is what's important. To do this correctly, you must figure out the internal temperature to pull a particular piece of meat or fish off your cooker. Then allow for the rise (or carryover) in temp when resting.

A 5° to 7° rise can be expected in many grilled things like chops, burgers or steaks. Sometimes you might see a 10° rise. There are some exceptions..... A grilled salmon fillet may rise more than one that was hot smoked at a lower pit temp. A prime rib roast cooked at 350° may rise more than one cooked at 225°. A big roast like a pork butt, pulled at 200° may rise more than 10° because it has so much mass and a high fat content.

I tend to bend the temperature rules more often on poultry white meat, ground beef, lamb, steaks and pork loin. But you should decide your personal preference for doneness. I would however, suggest the USDA recommended temperatures when serving guests. Just remember that rise during the rest period. That being said, here are some guidelines that I use at home:

RIGHT CLICK THE PICTURE TO PRINT MY CHART

Keeping an eye on the temperature won't so much good if your thermometer(s) are not calibrated. This goes for your pit thermometer and your kitchen thermometers that you use for monitoring the internal temperatures. There are some online boiling point calculators which take into account daily changes in barametric pressure as well as elevation, but here is a chart that will get you really close. (in other words, don't sweat a couple of degrees)

ELEVATION .....BOILING POINT
sea level ........ 212° F
600 ft ......... 211° F
1,100 ft ......... 210° F
1,600 ft ......... 209° F
2,100 ft ......... 208° F
2,600 ft ......... 207° F
3,100 ft ......... 206° F
3,600 ft ......... 205° F
4,100 ft ......... 204° F
4,700 ft ......... 203° F
5,300 ft ......... 202° F
6,000 ft ......... 201° F
6,500 ft ......... 200° F
7,000 ft ......... 199° F
7,500 ft ......... 198° F
8,000 ft ......... 197° F
8,500 ft ......... 196° F
9,000 ft ......... 195° F

FOIL
Sometimes called a crutch, foil does have a place in barbecuing. Using it when cooking meats is not mandatory so, just look at this way, foil is a tool not a rule. One of the downsides to foil is it will weaken the bark. (see The Rest below). A few times where it comes in handy are: 1. Your barbecued meats are coming out too smokey. 2. You need some control in the color of your finished product (the bark). 3. You need to speed up the cook in order to meet your sit down time. 4. You want to change the texture of your product. Wrapping ribs with some liquid in the foil for example will steam/braise them making them more tender. Some folks sauce and foil thighs (usually a foil covered pan) at the end of the cook too. Following the cook, wrapping and resting meats in foil, especially if you are holding them in a cooler or Cambro-type device works great.

THE REST
Allow your meat to rest before slicing or pulling. The juices need time to re-distribute into the meat. A prewarmed cooler is a good place for resting or holding your product until serving. Wrap in foil and use some newspaper for extra insulation if you need to hold it for a couple of hours. If you are worried about the condition of the bark, and not interested in the juices that accumulate in a foil pouch, or if you are slicing to order but still want to keep the meat moist... a brown paper bag works good too. Put the meat on a metal tray (or a piece of foil) and slip into the bag.

SERVING
Ok, now you are ready to dig in. If you are slicing beef, pay attention to the grain and cut across it for tenderness. The slice of brisket on the left is cut with the grain, and the slice on the right is cut across the grain.

When pulling or chopping beef and pork, remove some of the fat but be sure and mix some of the crust or “bark” in with the meat. If you have finished or rested your meat in foil, save the juices and use them to enhance the meat or as an adder to your sauce.

Don’t be alarmed if grilled and barbecued meats, especially chicken, has a pink color. This is a natural reaction from the smoke and does not mean that the meat is under cooked. If you monitored your finish temperature and any cutting board juices run clear, the meat is done. (Underdone chicken will not pull apart easily A simple trick is to blot a paper napkin onto the chicken or the juices, if it comes away pink, the chicken is underdone). This is a boneless thigh which was cooked to an internal temperature of 185°.

These baby backs were barbecued for almost 5 hours at 225° using a little cherry wood for smoke. Trust me....they are done.

You will sometimes notice a red or pink ring around the edge of slices on larger cuts of meat like this brisket. This ring is highly desirable in barbecue competitions, but it adds no special flavor.

Don't be too eager to slather on the sauce, it is not always necessary. I like to serve a couple of kinds at the table.

REHEATING
For reheating barbecue use an aluminum pan. Add a diluted sauce, CocaCola, apple juice, broth or a mixture of any of these to keep the product moist, cover and place in a 250° oven for about an hour or until warm.

I have the results of a survey of favorite reheating liquids posted in the Rubs, Sauces, Mop section, check it out if you are looking for something new.

FOOD SAFETY

The nature of any outdoor cooking event, from grilling some burgers to smoking a brisket for 20 hours, sometimes allows us to let out guard down when it comes to food safety. And I don't just mean once we are in the backyard. I'm talking transporting and preparing raw meats, cooking, and serving.

HERE
is a link to the USDA site that discusses barbecue safety issues. It's worth a read.

Paella

2003-09-18T10:22:00.000-07:00

1C short grain rice
1 – 14 oz can of chicken broth
1 C of hot water
4 green onions, coarsely chopped
handful of frozen peas
½ C roasted red peppers
1 ear of corn, sliced into 1” rounds
½ can of clams and 2 or 3 ounces of the juice
½ lb. chorizo sausage, formed into meatballs
1 chicken breast, bone in with skin removed (wings are good too)
6 shrimp, peeled
1/4t salt
rub for chicken & shrimp

Stabilize the Egg at 375 degrees dome. Season the chicken and the shrimp. Lightly grill the shrimp, grill the chicken and sausage about halfway done, remove from the grill and set the plate setter on the grill, legs down. Chop the chicken into several pieces, leaving the rib bones in place.

Combine all ingredients in a pan suitable for the Egg except for the 1 cup of hot water. This can be added during the cook if needed. Cook until rice is done, about 45 minutes, rotating 90 degrees once or so. Remove and cover with foil for 15 minutes. I like a little of Tony Chachere's "Original Creole Seasoning" added at the table. It is great on the corn.

Paella is like many things that can and should be adapted to your personal tastes. Since posting this page, a couple of folks have told me they are making vegetarian versions with corn, peas, mushrooms, snow peas, squash etc. I also like using all seafood especially when I can get fresh clams and mussels. ~thirdeye~

In a message to me on the Big Green Egg forum, "bobbyb " posted a couple of photographs of his paella cook that looked so good I wanted to pass them along. He made a couple of changes to my basic recipe, so they are included as well. So here is a Guest Pit Boss version of bobbyb’s paella.

Bobbyb used skinless thighs seasoned with Ken Stone’s Red Rooster rub. He smoked the chicken and the chorizo with pecan wood. The shrimp were left unpeeled and seasoned with Old Bay seasoning.

The raw seasoned shrimp were added to the dish during the last 12 minutes of the cook and appear to be cooked perfectly.

After reading a paella tutorial by The Naked Whiz on his website, I asked for permission to include a link here. His how to features two recipes and includes a discussion of the rice, sofrito, soccarat, equipment and techniques. Clicking Here will take you directly to the paella page published by "The Naked Whiz". Here are a couple of pictures of what I am talking about. The top paella is chicken and the next one is seafood.

EZBB Ribs

2002-12-06T16:19:00.000-08:00

Baby Back ribs are pretty easy to cook, but what's the easiest way to cook them? Well, after getting a lot of e-mails about ribs it seems there are a lot of folks that want good results the first time out, don't want to spend a lot of time cooking them, and also want a very tender almost fall-off-the-bone type of rib. Now, it's only fair to point out that in barbecue circles, the general opinion is that finished ribs should have a slight "tug" to the meat, while at the same time, leave the bone clean after each bite. But hey....you can figure out how you like them because you're the one eating them right? With this in mind, here is a good method to try. You will get consistently good ribs and there is room for some personal changes so you can dial them in to your tastes. I may bend a few of the rules, but that's okay.....Anyway, I call these EZBB Ribs.

Remove the membrane from the bone side of the ribs. Season your ribs with your favorite rub, as a minimum use salt and pepper. Keep the ribs in the refrigerator, they should be cold when they go on the pit. I like cherry wood for flavor. Set up your cooker for an indirect cook, I like to use a raised grate, drip pan and a second grate to hold the ribs. You can also use a pizza stone or a plate setter to baffle the heat with a drip pan on it. Use a 275° to 285° pit temp. Make sure that your rack will not overhanging the heat shield (you can see that I cut the small end off the rack above because they were so long) Let your fire stabilize for about 45 minutes, this also will let the smoke settle down a bit. Don't worry about that higher pit temp, the "high on the hog" cuts like loin, tenderloin and BB ribs can take higher heat. They are naturally more tender to start with and are leaner than say belly ribs or a butt.

Place the ribs on the grate above the drip pan, bone side down. This part of the cook will require about 2 or 2-1/2 hours. If you want to baste or spray the ribs, do this at the one hour mark, then again twenty minutes later. If you want to turn the ribs do this at the one hour and twenty minute mark. At two hours of cook time, check them for color and check the tenderness with a toothpick poked between the ribs. You should feel some resistance and you should notice the meat starting to pull back on the bones. You can leave them on another half hour if you have some really meaty ribs.

For the second step of this cook, (the tenderizing step) make a double layer of heavy duty foil large enough to make a pouch for the ribs. Warm up some thinned (with water or broth) BBQ sauce and some apple juice. I like to either use some some honey or agave nectar for sweetness, or some squeeeze Parkay. I guess you could use both honey (or the agave) and Parkay if you want... Anyway, make a figure 8 pattern on the foil with either the Parkay or the honey. Add a couple tablespoons of the apple juice inside the figure 8, it works like a dam to hold the liquid. Then paint the meat side of your rack with the warm sauce and put the meat side down on the foil. Do the same thing on the up side of the ribs (paint that side with sauce, add Parkay or honey, add some apple juice. (You can substitute other liquids for the apple juice. Broth, wine, beer, etc., will work too).

Then seal the foil. Put the pouch into a 260° oven. If you are doing more than one rack, put each rack in a separate foil pouch. Put the pouches on a baking pan just in case you have a leak, then into the oven with the top seam up. These will cook for one hour. Carefully sneak the top seam of the pouch open, watch out for the steam. Lift with tongs and test for tenderness using the toothpick, be careful not to poke a hole in the foil. They should be tender. Reseal the pouch and let the ribs rest about 20 minutes. You can place them into a cooler with some newspaper for insulation if you need to hold them longer. You can go back to the oven for 2o more minutes, but that extra time may make them too tender. You will notice that they are not super saucy, just sort of sticky. So have some sauce on the table....just do me a favor and try one without any sauce first.

Here is what the sliced ones will look like....

Pork Steaks

2002-10-07T12:29:00.000-07:00

Cut from a bone-in pork butt, pork steaks have a higher fat content than rib or loin chops and are very flavorful. They can be sliced thick or thin, usually the butcher will do this at no charge when you buy a butt. Pork steaks are a good cook for beginners, it is almost impossible to screw them up.

If you own a meat saw, slicing a butt is very easy.

Seasoning Options: Unlimited. Pork steaks can be seasoned with salt and pepper or your favorite rub. A mustard slather is an option for anchoring your seasonings or they can be marinated (see marinade recipe below). A finishing glaze or sauce can also be brushed on during the last 15 minutes of the cook.

Cooking Method: Pork steaks are very forgiving and can be cooked using a variety of methods like:

* Grilled direct 250° - 275° measured at the grate.
* Grilled direct on a raised grate. 250° - 275° measured at the grate.
* Barbecued with an indirect set-up. 225° to 300° measured at the grate
* Grilled or barbecued until 160° then finished in a foil pan or wrapped in foil.

Tip: Pork steaks are done at 165° to 170°. For a more tender steak they can be cooked using lower pit temperatures until 180° and above. The steaks in this picture have been cooking for about 3 hours using a raised grate over direct coals. Cherry wood was used for flavor and to give them a red color.

Here is a marinade for pork steaks that came to me by way of Guest Pit Boss "Juggy D. Beerman". Juggy is a regular contributor on The BBQ Forum, in fact if you read through the archives he must be one of the original members. He also pops up from time to time on The Big Green Egg Forum. Juggy is no stranger to outdoor cooking and has been on the competition circuit around 20 years. I was very pleased when he agreed to share this recipe and technique with us here. I was in the process of formatting this write-up from a couple of BGE forum threads I had saved, when it dawned on me that it would be more appropriate if I posted the actual exchange in Juggy's own words....

Yo thirdeye,

Here is my marinade recipe that I use for rib tips and pork steaks. Because of the sugars in the marinade, you will have to keep the fire no higher than 250ºF at grate level. I cook indirect too. Since you only cooking two steaks, you might want to halve this recipe. Or you can freeze what you don't use and save it for another time.

Uncle Chuck Bob's Piggy Parts Marinade:
1 - 16 oz bottle Sweet and Spicy French Dressing
2 Cups - Apple Juice
1 - 12 Ounce Can Cherry Cola
1 Cup - Lemon Juice
1 Cup - Woeber's Sweet and Spicy Mustard
1/4 Cup - Hot Sauce (Your Choice)
1/4 Cup - BBQ Rub (Your Choice)

That marinade is also fairly acidic. Four to six hours works for pork steaks and no more than 12 hours for rib tips. I use a real light coating of sauce at the end. Maull's for the steaks and my rib sauce for the rib tips and riblets.

Lager,

Juggy

Lynne's Breakfast Bacon

2002-10-06T16:47:00.000-07:00

Bacon has a long, rich culinary history and tradition. In general terms, bacon is cured meat from a pig. It actually comes in a variety of forms depending on which parts of the pig are used. Bacon can come from the jowl, the back, the side (or belly), and the shoulder. Bacon is salty and sweet, it’s really versatile, and can make just about anything taste better. Following the curing, bacon does not have to be smoked, but smoke adds an additional flavor that most of us enjoy. And if your only experience with bacon is store bought products, you will be in for a huge surprise….. home made bacon is superior and it’s not that hard to make. There are several options for the curing mixture, and the recipe below uses Morton’s Tender Quick and some spices.

I started searching for a Guest Pit Boss to write an article on belly bacon a couple of years ago and I'm really happy to share this one with you. Guest Pit Boss, Lynne is a Primo owner who hails from Nova Scotia, and is a regular on the Primo Forum which is where I met her. Her article will take us on a 6 day, start-to-finish journey, from the butcher shop to the freezer.

~~~~~~~~~ Lynne’s Breakfast Bacon from Pork Belly ~~~~~~~~~

I am working with a fresh 5.25 pound fresh pork belly that already had the rind removed before purchasing.

The spice mix that was used for this batch of breakfast bacon is given below.

NOTE: these measurements are per pound of fresh pork belly.

1T Morton’s Tender Quick curing salt
1 teaspoon dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
1/2 teaspoon fenugreek seeds
1/4 teaspoon fresh ground or cracked black pepper
1/2 crushed bay leaf

Mix the spices together. The amount and type of spice one uses can vary according to personal tastes but the amount of Morton curing salt should not be altered.

Place the pork belly in a zip lock bag and press the spice mix into all surfaces of the pork belly. Remove as much air as possible from the bag and seal.

Place the pork belly in a fridge that has the temperature set to keep the meat in the range 34 -38 degrees F. Flip the bag over every day for 5 days. You will notice when you flip the bag for the first time that there will now be liquid in the bag, which indicates that the curing process is underway. Do not drain the liquid from the bag, this liquid brine is important to the process.

After 4-1/2 to 5 days remove the pork belly from the bag and rinse well with cold water. Place the pork belly in a large non-reactive container, fill with cold water. Let sit in the fridge for a couple of hours, drain the water and rinse again. Repeat the two hour soak out and rinse at least three more times. This is a total of 8 hours of soak out time, and 4 changes of water.

If your timetable is such that you would rather soak out the bacon overnight (10 or 12 hours), do at least 2 soak and rinse cycles. The soak cycles will remove excess salt, and don't be concerned if the bacon looks slightly pale.

Once the soaking out process is finished, dry surface areas of the pork belly and set it uncovered on a rack in the fridge so the air can flow around the pork belly. This resting time will help equalize the liquids within the meat and also help with the pellicle formation which in turn will help the smoke adhere to the surface of the pork belly. The rest (or equalization) time is a minimum of 8 hours, but can be extended to 24 hours if needed.

Usually I use maple lump and I use cherry wood for the smoking wood.

Insert a thermometer into the thickest part of the pork belly. I set up the Primo grill so that the belly is on the raised grills and have a double layer of foil on the main grill under the belly. When the grill temperature is about 140 degrees F the pork belly is put on the raised grills. The temperature is kept in the 150 – 180 degree range for 2 hours or so and then allowed to creep up to 200 degrees F over the next couple of hours and then to 220 degrees F until the internal temperature of the meat is 150 degrees F. At this point the bacon is removed from the grill.

Allow the bacon to cool overnight in the fridge before slicing.

The next step is storing the finished product. I like to divide it up into small portions and seal it in Food Saver bags before storing in the freezer. The final amount of breakfast bacon was just over 4.25 pounds

Last but not least –taste test

Buckboard Bacon

2002-10-06T11:29:00.000-07:00

The art of salting, curing and smoking could possibly be some of the oldest cooking techniques known to man. Almost every culture does it to some degree. Cured products include hams, sausages, salami, bacon, seafood and vegetables. Home curing takes some thought and some common sense. The techniques are not hard, you just need a little time and you must pay attention to detail.

Buckboard butt bacon

~~ Follow a typical Buckboard loin from trimming through packaging ~~
This pictorial can be found at the end of the page.

All of us have "brought home the bacon" at one time or another but did you know that "makin' bacon" is not that difficult? Like most things, home-made bacon is superior to most store bought bacon. In the United States, bacon is cured then smoked for flavor. All you need is meat, curing salts, seasonings, time and a smoker. Typically pork belly is used for bacon but when pork butt or pork loin is used for bacon it is called Buckboard bacon. Buckboard bacon is nothing new, the pioneers made it often because nothing on a pig ever went to waste. Sometimes you will see it called pioneer bacon, or homesteader bacon, but basically we're talking about a piece of pork other than the belly, which is cured and smoked.

Meat can be cured with a brine or with a dry cure. In this how-to, I'm focusing on the dry cure method. Dry cures can be made from scratch or come pre mixed. They are basically nitrates and/or nitrites in a salt "carrier". Because the amounts of nitrates are very small It's better to purchase a pre mixed curing product. A very common commercial dry cure is called pink salt. It has a concentration of 6.25% nitrite in a salt carrier. It is colored pink to distinguish it from regular salt. Morton's Tenderquick was introduced specifically for home curing and it has a 0.5% concentration of nitrite and a 0.5% concentration of nitrate (1% total). Hi Mountion seasonings sells a product called Buckboard Bacon which is also for home use. It contains 0.7% nitrite and has some seasonings already mixed in. As you can see. Tenderquick and Buckboard are much weaker than "pink salt", so I usually refer to them as a "flavor cures".

For now I'm going to focus on the home curing products. I'll start with Tenderquick, it is more readily available than the Hi Mountain Buckboard cure. Look in the home canning section of your supermarket, Tenderquick comes in 2 pound bags. Now, for one reason or another Morton's is intentionally vague when it comes to exact amounts of cure and curing time for specific products. Some of their recipe books have been around for years, and Tenderquick does have a variety of uses. I have visited with the product division on the phone regarding methods of curing loins and butts, and although they were not familiar with the term "buckboard bacon" they did understand what I was after. "Canadian bacon" is what they call loin bacon. When I really put them on the spot regarding recommended methods and techniques, they advised me to "use a proven recipe and technique". And so, here is my Tenderquick cure:

~~~~~~~~thirdeye's Tenderquick Cure for Buckboard Bacon~~~~~~~~
Per ONE pound of pork loin or boneless pork butt:
1 Tablespoon of Tenderquick
1 teaspoon of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of maple sugar
Sprinkle of black pepper to the meat before adding the curing mixture, maybe a little more after the soak-out (this is discussed below)
(I think the Hi Mountain Buckboard cure has a hint of garlic powder in it too, but the label does not mention it, so if you want to add some that's up to you)

--------------------------------------------------
Hi Mountain Buckboard Bacon Cure
Now I want to introduce you to a ready-to-use cure sold by Hi Mountain Seasonings. I'm partial to it because it's an excellent product, comes pre measured (in amounts for 8.3 pounds of meat) & premixed, and it is made in Wyoming about 100 miles from my house. Hi Mountain's instruction package is so complete there is no need for me to post any how-to pictures. Many sporting goods stores in the west carry this cure along with jerky and sausage seasonings. Buckboard bacon can be purchased from the manufacturer by clicking here. You can preview the instructions by clicking here.

Below are three methods to determine the correct amount of Hi Mountain cure to use on pork. I prefer to weigh my cure in grams. These amounts are per ONE pound of meat.

By measure ........... 1 Tablespoon + 1-1/4 teaspoons per pound of meat
By weight ........... 3/4 ounce (.75 ounce) per pound of meat
By metric weight ... 21.25 grams per pound of meat

I use a gentle sprinkle of black pepper before adding the cure and following the soak out (this is discussed below).

Example 1: A 5 pound boneless pork butt requires 106.25 grams of cure.

Example 2: A 3/4 pound boneless pork chop requires 16 grams of cure.

Example 3: A 3/4 pound bone-in pork chop requires 13 or 14 grams of cure. (estimate the bone weight and subtract that from the total weight)

--------------------------------------------------

Now that I've touched on Tenderquick and Buckboard cures, I'm going to give you a summary of the process, then show you what the finished product looks like.

General instructions for Tenderquick and Buckboard Cure.

Start with a boneless butt, loin or tenderloin trimmed of excess fat. Use only meats that are marked "fresh" or "natural", do not use enhanced meats. Measure the amount of cure based on the weight of your meat. Don't use less than the amount of cure called for, it's okay if you go a little heavy on the measurement.

Sprinkle the meat with a little black pepper. Rub on the cure and massage into the meat. Place in a nonmetallic pan, plastic "zipper bag", or a vacuum (FoodSaver) bag with only a partial vacuum on it (see tips below for an explanation). Store in your refrigerator for up to 10 days (curing time is based on thickness of your meat) turning a few times. Rinse the cured meat. Soak the cured meat in cold water for a minimum of 2 to 3 hours, or up to 6 or 8 hours if you are salt conscious, then drain and dry. If you have washed off some of the black pepper, add another sprinkle. Rest in the refrigerator from 2 hours to overnight, the longer the better. The rest allows the cure to disperse more evenly. In curing circles the rest is referred to as equalization. Smoke the cured pork until the internal temperature is 140° to 150°.

To prepare for eating, just rest for an hour, slice it and try it out. You can lightly fry, microwave, bake or grill it. Since the buckboard is not a preservation cure, the bacon needs to be stored in your refrigerator. It will keep for 4 or 5 days. Since buckboard bacon is so much lower in fat than belly bacon it cooks much faster. Pork loin bacon resembles Canadian bacon, pork butt bacon resembles ham. If you want to slice it for packaging and freezing, let it chill overnight first.

Here are a few more tips I've put together:

* Curing time is based on meat thickness: I use 9 or 10 days curing time on a 3 to 3-1/2 inch thick butt. About 8 days on a 2 to 2-1/2 inch thick butt. About 6 days on an average loin. About 5 days on a tenderloin. Going a little longer on the cure times is okay, using shorter cure times may not fully cure your pork.

* The ideal temperature for your refrigerator during curing is 38° to 40°. Colder than 38° will slow down the curing process, I don't recommend using temperatures warmer than 42°.

* During curing, liquid will accumulate in the bag or container. This is normal as the cure is extracting water from your product. Don't pour off the liquid as it acts as a brine.

* You want to keep the liquid in contact with the meat. Because of this I turn my bags of meat at least every 24 hours.

* Although a plastic container or zipper bags work fine, I prefer using a vacuum (FoodSaver)type bag for my curing. What I do is place the prepared meat into vac bags, but I DON'T pull a full vacuum on them. You might call it a 3/4 vacuum. First, I want the bags sealed more securely than a zipper bag. Second I want most of the air out of the bag so that the brine that forms is in closer contact with the meat. I have a theory that a full vacuum may restrict the liquid leeching out of the meat.

*Parts of Hi Mountain's smoking instructions are written for an electric smoker. (They make references to drying the bacon with low temps, then adding smoke. They also mention turning off the smoker at the completion of the process) Depending on what kind of equipment you use, some modification of the technique is in order. Here is how I smoke Buckboard bacon it in my smokers, which are both charcoal fueled cookers.

In my Big Green Egg: My first choice is to use a direct setup with raised grate & grate extender (very raised direct). My cooking level is about 12" above the coals. (Second choice would be to use an aluminum pan or platesetter as a heat shield) I like a 180° pit temp for 2 hours, then ramp the temp up to 200° until the internal temperature of the meat is 140° to 150°. Every 30 minutes or so I drop a few chips through the grate and onto the coals, which is why I like the very raised direct method.

In my Big Drum Smoker: I use the mini charcoal ring with a chunk of wood on top of the coals. I like a 180° pit temp for 2 hours and ramp the temp up to 200° until the internal temperature of the meat is 140° to 150°.

Following smoking: I wrap in foil and rest a few minutes, then chill for slicing. When slicing butt bacon, you can make the slices thick or thin depending on your tastes. Loin bacon can be sliced into smaller chubs,(4" to 6" in length) or into individual slices. For preparing individual slices lay pieces on wax paper, layering bacon and paper as needed then freeze. After an hour or two, remove the slices and store in a zipper bag.

Here is a technique that comes by way of Guest Pit Boss, Rocky Richmond (designer of the Big Drum Smokers), and he used it on his first batch of Buckboard Bacon. He broke several butts down into smaller pieces going about 7 days of cure time on the larger and 5 days on the medium ones, clear down to 1 day cure time on what he called scrap pieces. (scroll down to the cross section picture of the full boneless butt and you can get the idea how this was done) The smaller pieces require less cure time that a whole butt, which is an advantage over the 10 day cure required on a full size one. The cook time is also reduced. It also dawned on me that not everyone has access to 8 or 9 pound butts, (or maybe you are not that handy with a knife) so using a smaller one from the meat case is an option too. Just make sure it is fresh pork, not one that has been enhanced or injected with any liquids, and try to pick ones the same size.

For the cook, Rocky used a Jumbo BDS with a mini charcoal ring, and Rancher brand charcoal and used smaller pieces of peach, apple and hickory woods. The starting pit temperature was 145° and was ramped up to the 175°-200° range toward the end of the cook, which took 2-1/2 to 3 hours for the medium and large pieces. Here are some pictures of his cook.

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Buckboard Chops

You can also use the buckboard cure on pork chops. Because of the soak out and rest times I use, these are mild and delicious, and similar in flavor to a ham steak or the more expensive "smoked pork chops" you see in the market. I start with two, 3/4 pound pork chops, lightly peppered then cured with 32 grams (or 2.2 Tablespoons) of Hi Mountain for 48 hours. (Remember if you have bone-in chops, reduce the amount of cure to compensate for the bone weight).

Following the cure time, soak them in water for 6 hours (in the fridge), then rinse and and rest (also in the fridge), about 6 or 7 hours. Smoke them as close to 180° pit temp, until the internal is 150°, which will take about 90 minutes. If the weight of your chops is different, make sure to weigh out the correct amount of cure. If you can't hold 180° in your smoker, shoot for 200° or 225°

PHOTO GALLERY

These are some buckboarded chops on my Big Drum Smoker

Here is a boneless butt on my Egg

Here is the same butt chilled.

Butt bacon in the frying pan

Two loins smoking in my BDS, one maple flavored & one peppered

Loin bacon grilling on my small Egg

Loin bacon grilling on my small Egg

Tenderloin bacon chilled and ready to slice

Tenderloin bacon in the frying pan

Loin bacon sliced and frozen on wax paper, ready for zipper bags.

Here is a start-to-finish pictorial on Buckboard loin bacon.
The steps are: Trim, Season, Apply Cure, Bag, Turn (every 24 hours),
Rinse, Soak Out, Rest, Smoke, Package

The liquid from the loins combines with the cure and forms a brine.
Don't pour it off, it is an important part of the process. The liquid
shown in the picture is after 3o hours of a 6 day cure time.
I turn my bags (overhauling) every 24 hours.

The soak out time I used on this piece was 8 hours.
The water was changed once.
A refrigerated rest (equalizing) following the soak out is very important.
I rest mine overnight.

PORK - Country Style Ribs

2002-09-18T15:18:00.000-07:00

Country Style Ribs, depending on the butcher or the part of the country, are cut from two different parts of the pig.

The style shown first are cut from the blade end of the shoulder. The “shoulder cut” ribs usually have the bone left in and are well marbled with fat. Lower barbecue temperatures around 225° at the grate are beneficial to this cut due to the fat content. They can be cooked direct on a raised grate or indirect, the latter being my choice. Cook times of 3 to 5 hours will render the “shoulder cut” ribs into a moist and tender product. An internal temperature of 175° to 185° is ideal. Use a toothpick to monitor doneness. Fruit wood like cherry or apple can add extra flavor. Saucing toward the end of the cook is an option to explore since the meat is so much thicker than spare ribs.

Trim any excess fat around the outside edges.

Lightly oil or coat with mustard and apply rub an hour or two before cooking.

The second style comes from the blade end of a bone-in pork loin and generally include from three to six ribs. They look like thick pork chops. This tender, leaner cut is generally cooked direct using roasting temperatures. Use your favorite dry rub, seasonings and wood to compliment the flavor of the pork.

Guest Pit Boss fishlessman, a regular contributor on The Big Green Egg forum shared the following pictures as well as two options he favors when cooking these "loin ribs".

Here is a a bone-in pork loin. For roasting whole, fishlessman recommends searing the roast, resting, then cooking using roasting temperatures of 350° with a direct set-up on a raised grate. Removing the roast at an internal temperature of 145°, followed by a second rest will yield a moist finished product.

Fishlessman prefers to cut the roast into two-rib sections and use the same technique and finish temperature for the cook. The flavor of the rub will be more pronounced with the additional surface area.

Baby Back Rib Class

2002-06-27T19:09:00.000-07:00

On July 4th, 2010 "Car Wash Mike" McKernan passed away. Mike was a true BBQ ambassador, proud to be an Egghead, and was one of the most distinguished members of the Big Green Egg Forum. He will be missed but never forgotten. I will remember him as being quick to help out the younger cooks and the old hands alike, always handing out good advice, and he never tired of answering the same questions over and over. There is no doubt that Mike is responsible for teaching thousands of folks to barbecue ribs. Since posting Mike's rib method in the summer of 2007, this has been one of my most popular pages.

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When it comes to pork ribs, many cooks prefer baby back ribs. These do not come from a baby pig, they are simply smaller because they are cut from the part of the rib closest to the backbone. Sometimes known as loin back ribs, they have a distinctive curve of the bone compared to spareribs, which are cut from the belly of a pig. Car Wash Mike, a regular contributor on The Big Green Egg Forum has mastered a technique for cooking these ribs and agreed to share it with me. So here is how Guest Pit Boss, Car Wash Mike, prepares his ribs.

BABY BACK RIB CLASS

Car Wash Mike

I don’t claim to be a rib eggspert but I will give you some basics today to get you started in the right direction. First, I cook baby backs exclusively. A 3 pack at Sam’s club works well.

THE PREP!

After opening up the package. Pat the ribs down with paper towels. Take the membrane off the bone side. To do this take a paper towel on the small end and pull towards the large end. Today I used Dizzy Pig Original for the rub. Leave the ribs meat side down. Now, I actually rub, the rub in, on the bone in side. Flip over, lightly coat with mustard. The mustard will not give any flavor. It gives you three different values in my opinion. Others will argue. The vinegar in the mustard will start breaking down the collagen in the ribs. It will give a better bark. It will also help the last coating of the rub to stick to the ribs. After applying the mustard. Coat with Dizzy Pig Original Rub. After prepping put back in the fridge for at least 1 hour, but no more than 2. If you haven’t lite you egg. Now is the time.

THE COOK!

Okay, the process just got a little complicated. I have cooked over a 100 slabs of baby backs, EVERY YEAR for over 15 years. I tell you this, so you don’t get discouraged if your first few attempts are not desired. Practice makes perfect. Put your wood of choice on the clean burning fire of the egg. Add 3-4 wood chunks. Try to stick with fruit woods. I used apple and cherry wood. They are going to start smoking right away. Put you plate setter on the fire ring, legs up. A large drip pan on the plate setter. You need to let the wood smoke for at least 30 minutes before putting the ribs on. I always use an inverted V-Rack. I think the heat off the plate setter and drip pan, cause a tough skin on the bone in side. Get your egg stabilized at 200-225. The first few hours are the most important. Your ribs need to be cold when placing on the egg. They tend to soak up the smoke better and have a better smoke ring. I like to mist the ribs. I like to use a 50/50 mixture of apple juice/apple cider vinegar after the first hour. I do this every hour until done. After 3 hours bump that temp up to 250. Opening up the egg for misting may accomplish this.

Okay, we have had our ribs on for 3 hours. Time to get that temp up to 250. Mist one more time after an hour. Let go another 30 minutes. The ribs have been on 4 ½ hours. Pick a slab up. If it folds in half easily, it is time to finish. If not, put back on for another 30 minutes. Also, another way to check is that the meat should have pulled back approximately 1 ½ inches. Another way is to, go ahead and pull a slab off and cut. If the bone is white in color they are ready.

This is where experience comes in. The texture you want will determine when to pull off. If you want fall off the bone. Let them go 5 ½ hours. Remember though. You might be taking a chance on them drying out.

THE FINISH!

There are all kinds of good bbq sauces out there. I think the secret to great sticky finger ribs is a good sauce. I always use a sugar based sauce. I make sure my bbq sauce is cold (been in the fridge) for a few hours or days. This makes the sugar thicken up. This will produce a full flavor of sauce on the ribs.

Our ribs have been on between 4 ½ and 5 ½ hours. After pulling them, set them aside and get the egg up to 275. While the temp is climbing apply the desired amount of bbq sauce on the ribs evenly. Today we used Blues Hog. Many competitors use this. Pull the V-Rack off. You want your ribs laying flat when finishing. Place the ribs back on the egg bone side down. Leave on for 20-30 minutes. If your guests allow, pull off, let rest for 5-10 minutes, slice up and enjoy.

PORK - Pork Shoulder (butt & picnic)

2002-02-22T10:44:00.000-08:00

Pulled pork is made using the front shoulder of a pig. The shoulder can be purchased whole or will be separated into a butt (Pork butt, Boston butt, blade end shoulder or blade end butt) and picnic (picnic ham) cuts. The butt end is upper portion of the shoulder and the picnic is the lower portion, closer to the foot. The butt can be bone-in or boneless. The picnic is most always bone in and they usually have the skin left on. TIP: Three options regarding the skin on a picnic are as follows: 1. The skin can be left on and scored. 2. The skin can be easily removed and discarded. This will allow more surface area for the bark. 3. The skin can be removed. and the picnic seasoned with rub or a slather, then the skin is replaced and held in place with toothpicks or twine.

Compared to a butt, the meat on a picnic is a little darker in color, has a slightly stronger flavor and a texture more like ham. At all costs avoid buying any pork product that has been enhanced or injected with water or other liquids. Pork shoulder has the perfect amount of fat and connective tissue, which results in a very moist end product after many hours of "low and slow" cooking. The meat will nearly fall apart on its own and can easily be pulled, shredded or even chopped. It is wonderful as a main dish, for sandwiches, as filling for fresh tortillas, etc. After pulling it can be seasoned with rub, sauced or served with condiments on the side. Include some of the bark with the pulled or chopped meat for extra flavor. Many BBQ joints will offer "inside meat" or "outside meat" choices. The inside meat being a little moister, the outside meat will include more of the bark.

Below I explain how I normally barbecue a pork shoulder, how I change up a little if I'm cooking ahead and freezing for later, and offer several tips for reheating. I also have a separate page which deals with reheating liquids for several kinds of barbecued meats.

COOKING METHOD - PULLED PORK

Butts can be barbecued without any seasoning at all or you can use your favorite rub. The more sugar in the rub, the darker the crust or “bark” will be. Even a simple rub of salt and pepper is effective. I like to put a light spray or brushing of olive oil on the meat before applying my rub.

SLATHER OPTION: A wet mustard "slather" is popular on pork butts, If you want to try this technique just sprinkle on some rub followed by a thin brushing of yellow mustard (which has been thinned a little with Worcestershire), then another sprinkle of rub. The seasoned butt can be wrapped in plastic wrap and left overnight in the refrigerator if you like.

BASTING OPTION: Basting during the cook is optional, just wait several hours for the bark to set before basting. I like to start spraying my butts with apple juice about halfway through the cook. I usually spray them 3 times. These butts have been sprayed with apple juice starting at hour 8 on the cooker.

INJECTING: Injecting the butt before cooking is also an option to explore. Many different flavors of injectable marinades are sold or you can make your own. See another option regarding injecting during the plateau or toward the end of the cook.

Prepare the cooker for a long cook. Use barbecue temperatures between 225° and 275° (at the grate) with an indirect set up and the wood of your choice. A drip pan is necessary to catch the fat. Start your butt with the fat side down. After a few hours you may elect to turn it to balance the color. In a few more hours, turn it fat side down again. Depending on your cooker you may be able to finish the cook without turning again. Plan on 1.5 to 2 hours per pound of cooking time, so a 7 pound butt may take 14 or more hours. Your internal target temperature is 195°, but some may be done earlier or later. The butt will hit a temperature plateau or stall at 160° to 170° or so. Depending on the moisture in the meat and the time needed for conversion of collagen to gelatin, the plateau can last several hours. Each butt cooks differently. Do not raise the temperature of the cooker to hurry through the plateau. The internal temperature will begin to rise on its own and the butt will be done in 2 to 4 more hours. To control the color or crispness of the bark, the up side of the butt can be tented with foil. After the butt has passed through the plateau and has an internal temperature around 185°, check every hour or so, giving the bone a wiggle or poking with a skewer for doneness. The bone should slip free clean and no resistance should be felt with the skewer. REMINDER: It is not uncommon for two butts of the same weight, cooked side by side, to finish at different times, sometimes an hour or two apart.

When it is done, remove and wrap in foil. Rest the butt for a couple of hours in a prewarmed ice chest wrapped in newspaper or towels for insulation before pulling.

TIP: Once the internal temp is above 180° the cooker temperature can be raised to shorten the time for the butt to finish. Another option is to wrap the butt in foil at this time and return to the cooker until the target temperature is met. The quality of the bark is not as good when using foil.

LATE INJECTION OPTION: Using an injection when the butt is in the plateau will improve moistness and flavor. Don't use a heavily seasoned injection since there will only be a few hours of actual cook time remaining.

Using an injection before wrapping in foil for a foil finish (see below) has similar results. I use mostly apple juice, a few shakes of Worchestershire and a couple sprinkles of a seasoned salt.

FOIL FINISH OPTION: A foil finish can speed up your cook if you are running behind. It can also help retain moisture. Basically it involves double wrapping the butt in foil and either returning to the cooker or to an oven until it has cooked tender. I like to use an apple juice injection (mentioned above) right before wrapping in foil. Competition cooks will often wrap their butts when the internal temp is 165°, add some liquid, then return to the pit to cook tender. This is a handy trick to have in your arsenal.

FLAVOR STEP - If you still have a low fire in the cooker when you are ready to pull the pork, add just a few wood chips. Put the pulled pork in a disposable aluminum pan and when the smoke settles down, put the pan in the cooker for a few minutes. Sample often and be careful not to dry it out. Sauce can be added for this step too.

COOKING BUTTS AHEAD - FREEZING - THEN SERVING LATER:

I slightly change up my pulled pork method specifically when I plan on freezing & reheating later..... I season it heavier as freezing/thawing/reheating does seem to dull the rub. I also do a foil finish from about 185° on with some apple juice in the foil, and a mix of apple juice and broth injected into the butts. The foil finish does soften the bark, but the freeze/thaw/reheat will anyway, so I'm going for as much "just pulled" flavor as I can get. Plus, this gives me a real moist product.

I rest it at least two hours, then reserve the foil juice (and there will be plenty) and pull it. Next I mix come Coca-Cola into the foil drippings and add to the pulled pork. Then add a little more seasoning. I like my meat to set a little before going into the foodsaver bags, if you use zipper bags you can skip this step. I layer the meat on sheet pans and move to the freezer for 20 or 30 minutes, then break apart partially frozen sections, load into bags and vacuum seal. With zipper bags, I just load the meat, and freeze.

For reheating I use 80 quart Nesco roasters as my hot water bath. An alternate heating method is using large foil pans in an oven at 250°. Coke or a really thin mixture of sauce and Coke is what I use if any additional moisture is needed. My sauce is served at the table or at the end of the serving line. ADDITIONAL REHEATING TIPS ARE BELOW.

Here are two 9 pound butts.

This is a picnic with the excess fat and skin trimmed off

Here is a picnic with the skin on and scored.

REHEATING & FREEZING LEFTOVER PULLED PORK

Pulled pork freezes well. Liquid can be added to zipper or Food Saver bags prior to freezing for moisture.

For reheating pulled pork, use covered aluminum pans in a 250° oven for about an hour or try Food Saver bags in a hot water bath. Some liquid for moisture should be added to the pork. A diluted sauce, CocaCola, apple juice, broth or a mixture of any of these works well.

PORK - Hocks, Shanks, Jowls & Trotters

2002-02-22T06:47:00.000-08:00

Some of the overlooked cuts can sometimes be the most flavorful. Hocks, shanks, hog jowl and trotters (pig feet) are inexpensive, quite tasty on their own, and add a great deal of flavor to other dishes like a pot of beans or soups & stews. Most jowls have already been smoked. Hocks, trotters and shanks are available either fresh or smoked. If you buy smoked items, doing a second smoke on them really wakes up the flavor.

Brining is not required before smoking fresh hocks, shanks or trotters, but it does change the texture, adds some color and flavor. If you want to experiment with brining, here is a starter recipe:

1 gallon of water
1 cup kosher salt
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons of pink salt (Insta-cure #1, Prague powder #1)
1 tablespoon of black pepper

TIP #1: Tenderquick can be substituted for the pink salt. Use 1 cup of Tenderquick and omit the kosher salt.

TIP #2: For a milder "cure" the salt can be reduced to 2/3 cup and 2 tablespoons of Tenderquick is added instead of the pink salt.

Optional ingredients include: bay leaves, crushed garlic, garlic powder or onion powder (use powders, not salt)

Combine all of the ingredients in a pot and heat to a simmer, until the salts and sugar is dissolved. Chill the brine, transfer to a non-reactive container like a plastic zipper bag, plastic bucket etc. Submerge the items (use a plate or saucer if needed to keep them submerged) and refrigerate for 3 days. Remove the items, rinse well, soak in clean water for 2 to 3 hours, dry and refrigerate for 24 hours. Then follow the cooking method below.

COOKING METHOD (Hot Smoking):

Set up the cooker for barbecuing 215° to 250° (grate temp), indirect. Sprinkle a light coating of rub on all sides and smoke with your favorite wood. A couple of hours works for previously smoked ones, 3 to 5 hours is needed for fresh ones. Basting is optional during the cook. For doneness, an internal temperature of 150° to 160° is adequate. They freeze well. In soups or beans, simmer the pieces for a couple of hours to flavor the dish. Remove the pieces, shred the meat and return to the pot. Discard the bones, skin and fat.

Here is a load of hocks. Hocks are generally "ham hocks", cut from the lower end of a ham (rear leg). They can also be cut from the lower end of the picnic (front leg)

These are smoked shanks, which generally are cut from the lower area of a picnic (front leg) and also called "foreshanks" When used in a pot of beans or braised, the smoked shanks will produce meat that will be fork tender, or pullable, moist and full of flavor. If they happen to be cut from the rear leg, they are referred to as hind shanks.

Smoked hog jowl will add flavor to black eyed peas, bean dishes of all kind and collard greens. Score the skin before smoking. Basting is not needed due to the heavy layer of fat. If you prefer, jowl can be trimmed of some of the fat before using for cooking.

Cook trotters just like shanks or hocks. (Sometimes they will come "split") They are not as meaty or as convenient to clean as hocks or shanks, but are very flavorful. They can be used whole in beans or stews and then discarded.

PORK - Spare Ribs - Preparing

2002-01-23T13:06:00.000-08:00

Spare ribs are the classic barbecued ribs. They are the bones left over (spare) when a pork belly is trimmed for making bacon. They consist of the lower portion of the rib bone along with the cartilage that joins the ribs to the breastbone. I think the taste and texture of these "belly ribs" is much better than baby back ribs. They come in slab form or a rack, trimmed down to St. Louis cut. Serious pit bosses will select spare ribs that are “three and under” meaning that the rack weighs 3 pounds or less, but don't worry if you can't find them in smaller sizes. Given time, they will cook themselves tender.

Here is how to trim the slab:

First, the ribs need to be trimmed and prepared. Turn the slab rib side up and slice off the skirt meat, flush with the bones. (the skirt is the lean muscle that covers the breastbone and cartilage)

Next, remove the membrane. Start in one corner, work an edge loose then use a paper towel to grip it, and peel it off. If it is really stubborn, coil the ribs with the meat side to the inside of the coil. This will stretch the membrane and make it release easier.

Using a sharp knife and starting at the wide end of the slab, cut just above the ends of the bones down the length of the slab, cutting through the cartilage. (You can cut off one or two of the ribs on the small end if you wish). Trim off any large areas of fat. Fat deposits, like the ones seen on the 5th & 6th ribs from the left should be scraped off with a teaspoon or the back of a knife. Many refer to this method as a KC trim. A St. Louis cut still has the skirt meat intact.
Save the strip or “rib tips” and the skirt to cook along with the ribs. They are good snacks or can be chopped later for beans etc.

Here is a picture showing the trimmed ribs, the skirt and the strip (cut into pieces) and the amount of fat trimmed off. Note the triangle shaped area of fat that was trimmed off of the wide end of the rack.

After blotting the meat, a sprinkle of rub was added, then a thin coating of mustard, then a little more rub. The "slather" of mustard is optional. It will help anchor the rub and may improve the bark. Many folks feel it locks in some moisture and a few feel the vinegar in the mustard helps tenderize the meat. Anyway, mustard or not, the ribs are now ready to go on the cooker. If you prepare them an hour or two ahead of time, they can be wrapped in plastic wrap and kept refrigerated. TIP: If you prepare the ribs the night before, go light on the rub especially if your rub has a high amount of salt. This will prevent any "curing" or a "hammy" texture of the meat by the salts. Just add a little more rub before going on to the cooker.

Here we are after 5 hours at 225 degrees (grate temp), indirect setup. Cherry wood was used for more flavor. The skirt only made it 3 hours.

Here is the rack at serving time. These are served "dry" or "Memphis Style".

Here are three options to the cooking method above using aluminum foil:

1. Ribs can be "tented" with foil early in the cook. Just place a piece of foil over the ribs for the first 1 to 3 hours of the cook. The tent will keep the ribs a little moister, slightly decrease the cook time and still allow them to receive some smoke. Remove the tent for the last couple hours of barbecuing to allow the bark to mature.

2. A foil "boat" can be used under the ribs. About 2 or 3 hours into the cook described above, lay a piece of heavy duty foil on the grate and carefully set your ribs on top of the foil with the meat side up. The foil needs to be long and wide enough to allow you to to fold the sides and ends up making a shallow tray. Brush or spray the ribs with your favorite basting liquid every 30 minutes until the ribs are done. I like to use an Eastern North Carolina style mop, but something as simple as apple juice will work. The basting liquid and drippings trapped in the "boat" will produce a lighter steaming effect than using a foil pouch.

3. Foil can also be used to braise the rack and make for a more tender finished product. The ribs are cooked as usual for the first 3 hours. Then they are removed from the cooker and wrapped in a foil pouch with the meat side down. Before makng the final seal on the pouch, 1 to 3 ounces of some liquid is added. Liquids like beer, wine, apple cider, apple juice or broth all work well. TIP: Warm your liquid before adding to the pouch. In addition to adding a cooking liquid, the rack can sprinkled with brown sugar and more rub. It can also be brushed down with thinned barbecue sauce, honey, apple jelly, jalapeno jelly, hoisin sauce etc. These extra steps will add flavor to the juices that will accumulate in the foil pouch. Once sealed, the pouch is returned to the cooker (or to a preheated oven) for about an hour. Foil time can be adjusted to obtain the desired level of tenderness. (Much longer than an hour will result in the meat falling off of the bones). The pouch is removed, the ribs are unwrapped and returned to the cooker and finished to your liking using either an indirect or direct set up. This method is referred to as 3-1-1, 3-2-1, etc., which identifies the time in hours of each step. My personal preference is more like 3-1, as I very seldom return the ribs to the cooker after the time in the foil. TIP: Catch the juices from the pouch and reduce it by half to use as a finishing sauce for the ribs.

Here are some 3-1-1 ribs finished in the foil pouch and finished indirect. Finishing sauce has been added and they are ready to remove from the cooker. These are "wet" or "Kansas City Style" ribs.

And here is the same rack sliced.

Flavor Brining

1999-07-29T14:30:00.001-07:00

I’m a technique man. Always have been, always will be. Once or twice a week I use a simple technique in the kitchen that is about the oldest around. It involves water, salt and time. Maybe you remember a little thing called osmosis from science class. In a nutshell osmosis is the movement of water molecules from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration. So, just what the heck am I doing in my kitchen and what does this marvel of science have to do with it? Meat cell walls are semi-permeable. Water and salt can pass into the cell, but proteins cannot pass out of the cell. Once inside the meat, salt causes the strands of protein to denature, or unwind. This changes the structure of the proteins, causing them to become tangled together and trapping moisture. When the meat is cooked, the denatured proteins solidify and form a barrier that keeps the moisture and salt in the meat. The result is meat with higher moisture content and improved texture. And since salt amplifies the flavor of foods, you have flavor throughout the meat.

Sadly, one kind of science has got to come to the rescue of another kind of science. Did you realize that pigs today are 50% leaner than they were just 20 years ago? Chickens follow closely behind. From a health point of view this scientific breeding is fantastic because fat is bad. On the other hand, both moisture and flavor have been sacrificed. Brining is a way for us to enjoy these leaner and healthier cuts of meat by insuring that they are moist and juicy. And if the brine includes pepper, herbs, spices, garlic, onion, lemon, beer etc., those flavors are carried in and trapped in the meat too. Instead of seasoning on the surface only, as most cooks do, brining carries the seasonings throughout. The general term I like is “flavor brining” which distinguishes it from a stronger “curing brine” or “pickle”.

Professional chefs have used brines for years and not just for flavor or moisture. Brined meats can hold longer than non-brined meats. And brined meats can be slightly over cooked and still remain juicy. I typically brine all chicken breasts, pork loins, pork chops and turkey breasts. If you happen to brine a whole chicken or turkey, the dark meat will benefit somewhat too.

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Flavor Brine #1 is a traditional brine containing just the basics:

This ratio of salt to water has been a standard for a number of years.
1 gallon of water
6 to 8 ounces of salt. (I prefer 6 oz., and use kosher salt or canning salt)
1/2 cup of sugar

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A smaller batch of Flavor Brine #1:

1 quart of water
3 tablespoons of Morton's kosher salt
2 tablespoons of sugar

Seasonings like pepper, garlic powder, sage, lemon slices, onion slices, fresh herbs etc. are optional. A few ounces of flavored vinegar, wine, apple juice or even beer can be added as well.

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thirdeye's Lite Brine:

Because a lot of folks watch their salt intake, I started getting inquiries about a brine with less salt. A lite brine so to speak. Many of my brining sources felt that less than 4 ounces of salt per gallon is not strong enough, but Smokin' Okie (Author of Brining 101) reminded me "...it's not the strength of the brine, but how long to let meat soak". Once I got his nod, I continued experimenting with my recipe and like the results on pork loin, pork chops and chicken pieces. Since this lite brine has less salt, less sugar is needed. If you want to add a sprinkle of your favorite rub, or maybe a splash of soy sauce, go for it. Because this brine is lite on salt, it's okay. In addition to immersion brining, I've also been injecting some of the same brine, details on both methods are below.

1 gallon of water
3-1/2 ounces of salt (kosher salt or canning salt)
1 tablespoon(minimum) of brown sugar, maple sugar, or white sugar

A smaller batch of thirdeye's Lite Brine:

1 quart of water
0.875 ounces of salt (7/8 of an ounce)
1 teaspoon (minimum) of brown sugar, maple sugar, or white sugar

USED AS A BRINE ONLY: I have done numerous cooks using this brine on pork loin roasts, boneless loin chops, bone-in chops and chicken breasts and thighs. I have been having wonderful results. Brine times of 3 or 5 hours on loin roasts, and 2 to 3 hours on thick loin chops, and 1 to 2 hours on the chicken breasts are what I prefer. Following the brine time, rinse the meat and return to the refrigerator for at least an hour or two to allow the solution to equalize.

USED AS AN INJECTION AND A BRINE: Out of the blue, 2Fategghead, a regular reader of my site and a member of the Big Green Egg Forum, posted about using my brine on pork tenderloins, but they were injected prior to going into the brine. The photographs and description of the finished tenderloins looked wonderful, so I immediately tried it on two tenderloins. I liked the results so much, I cooked two more tenderloins a couple of days later and the results were fantastic. 2Fategghead recommended pumping them full of brine before submerging them in the brine. The brine time is 1-1/2 hours in the fridge, and I rinsed and rested (equalized) mine for another hour in the fridge before grilling.

Expanding this same brine/injection method to chicken pieces works great too. My time for breasts and thighs is 1 hour minimum and 2 hours maximum, followed by at least a 1 hour rest in the refrigerator.
-----------------------------------------------

Flavor Brine #2:

1 gallon water
6 ounces of kosher salt
1 tablespoon Morton's Tenderquick
4 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 onion, chopped
¼ cup brown sugar
1 to 2 tablespoons pepper blend or crushed peppercorns

This brine has a different twist from Brine #1. It has less sugar, the addition of Morton's Tenderquick and less salt. Tenderquick has both nitrates and nitrites in a salt carrier. It's purpose is to tenderize, moisturize and color meats. It was designed for home use and differs in strength from professional or commercial curing salts, otherwise known as pink salts or Prague powders. I feel that Flavor Brine #2 is technically still a flavor brine and here's why. It gives us some of the things we like from cured products, namely flavor, a different texture and a hint of pink color to the meat. But it still is not as strong as a curing brine that would be used on something like bacon or ham. In other words, in this low concentration, it can't used for preservation. So I'm going to call it a flavor brine. This is a favorite of mine on chicken breasts and turkey breasts.

----------------------------------- TIPS --------------------------

SALT: I have listed the salt in ounces because grain size will vary between brands. I happen to use Morton’s kosher salt and 6 ounces is approximately 3/4 cup (or 12 tablespoons). Just for reference on grain size... Morton kosher Salt weighs about 7.7 ounces per cup, Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt weighs about 5 ounces per cup.

Canning salt (a smaller grain natural salt) or sea salts can be used as well, just go by weight. The nice thing about canning salt is that it will dissolve in lukewarm water (see preparing a brine below) and is handy for making quick batches. If you are planning on injecting your brine, canning salt is the way to go. CAUTION: Canning salt and some sea salts may actually be "saltier" than the standard kosher salts. Some experimentation with actual amounts and brine times is needed when selecting these salts.

SUGAR: Sugars offset the harshness of the salt. My recipes list the minimum amount of sugar I feel is necessary to do the job. Feel free to add more. Brown and maple sugar are more flavorful, but white sugar will dissolve easier. Some of the competition BBQ cooks I know use close to a 50:50 ratio of salt and sugar in the brine for their competition chicken.

----------------------------------------------OTHER RECIPES -------------

Making a Brine From A Rub:

Anytime you have a rub you really like, (or have a jar of one you don't care for and never use), try it as a brine mix. Everything is in there.... salt, sugar, seasonings. Here's what you do: Take a pint of hot water and mix in a couple of tablespoons of the rub to dissolve. Add another pint of iced water to chill it down. Add a few cubes of ice if needed. Then brine some pork chops or chicken breasts and see how you like them. Sometimes if it's a salty rub, you might want to add some additional brown sugar. Make a note of the amount of rub you used (some rubs only need 1T per quart, others need 3T per quart) and write this information right on the label on the jar.

If you have several rubs you don't like (or just partial jars you want to use up so you can buy fresh) combine them in a mason jar to use for brining. The only downside to this is that if you like it.... you will never be able to duplicate it.

--------------------------------HOW TO PREPARE AND USE BRINES ----------------------

Bring a quart or so of water to a simmer. Dissolve all dry ingredients in the water then add any other seasonings like fresh herbs or lemon slices. The heat will help wake up those flavors. Simmer 5 minutes or so and remove from the heat, allow to cool somewhat. Meanwhile, mix some ice into the remaining water then add it to the hot water. A brine must be cold before adding any meat so transfer the brine to a non-reactive container and chill it in the refrigerator. Overnight is best. (An option to skipping the overnight cool down is to cut back on the 3 quarts of water and substitute more ice) A plastic food grade container works well when making a full batch. A deep CorningWare dish or a zipper bag will work for small batches. Submerge your meat into the brine and return to the refrigerator. Discard after use, do not re-use brines.

Here are some suggested brine times to get you started. If you are sensitive to salt, or experimenting with flavor combinations, try the lower end times first just to play it safe.

Shrimp …………… 10 minutes (use thirdeye's Lite Brine)
Chicken breasts … 1 to 4 hours
Pork chops ……… 1 to 4 hours
Whole chickens … 4 hours to overnight
Pork loin ………… 4 hours to overnight
Turkey Legs ........ 12 to 24 hours
Turkey Breasts … 6 to 24 hours
Whole turkeys … 12 to 48 hours

RINSING: Following brining, give smaller items a good rinse, and larger items a soak-out in cold water, plus a good final rinse. (The soak-out can be as little as 15 minutes for a whole chicken or several hours for a whole turkey)

RESTING: The next step is some rest time in the refrigerator, and I feel this is a very, very important step in the process. Shrimp only need about 15 minutes of resting. I will rest smaller pieces of chicken or pork chops for at least one or two hours, and up to 8 hours on a turkey breast. The resting time lets the salt and flavors retained in the meat disperse and reach a state of equilibrium of sorts. If you cook brined things right after coming out of a brine (even with rinsing or soaking) a lot of the salt is still near the surface. The heat of cooking will draw it out and the evaporation process will concentrate it. Then....when you take a bite, you are met with a salty flavor first. The equalization time lets everything settle down.

Following brining, rinsing and resting, cook as usual.

Web Sightings

1999-06-05T16:04:00.000-07:00

Here is a list of websites that you may find useful. These clickable listings make it easy to access the sites. A brief decsription of the information to be found on each site is included.

If you have a favorite link or two, just click on "Add Your Links Here" at the bottom of my homepage and follow the instructions. Any corrections or request for removal should be left on the same page.

~thirdeye~

Barbecue & Grilling Sites - General Information, Rubs, Wood, Sauces, etc.
Barbecue Woods
Chips, chunks, planks etc.
BBQ Camper
Pork Butt Mike's Camping and Barbecue Page
Boss-Man Bar-B-Que
Because eating bad BBQ is criminal. Recipes, tips, catering info.
CBBQA
California BBQ Association
Danny's Place
Danny Gaulden's site with tips, recipes & question board
Hot Sauce
Hot sauce selection
Kick Ass BBQ
Recipes, wood info & good guide to meat cuts
RandyQ's
Barbecue ramblings & pastrami, jerky & more
Rib Man
All about ribs
Smoke In The Ozarks
Hand cut hardwoods, sized for ceramic cookers
The Dizzy Pig Barbecue Company
Dizzy Pig brand rubs
The Naked Whiz
Ceramic Charcoal Cooker Page with Charcoal Database
Virtual Weber Bullet
WSM website, cooking topics & shopping
WessB
A ceramic cooking site with recipes, tips, downloadable cookbooks & photographs

Barbecue Tools & Equipment
Ceramic Grill Store
Custom accessories for Big Green Eggs & other caramic cookers
Lawn Ranger
Custom BBQ tools

General Cooking Information
Ask-A-Butcher
Forum, meat question database & barbecue information
Ask the Meatman
The Meatman's HUGE collection of cooking links.
Beef Chart
From Angus.org
Canning
Links to many many canning sites
Cook's Thesaurus
Cooking encyclopedia
How to tie a roast
And other helpful tips, look in the left margin
Papa Dutch
Dutch oven cooking site

Recipe Sites
Just Game Recipes
Game recipes
Texas Cooking Recipes
The name says it all
The Pepper Fool
Recipes featuring peppers of all kinds
101 Cookbooks
Exploring one recipe at a time
Clay's Kitchen
Outstanding collection of recipes

Forums
BBQ Brethren
Forum & recipes
Big Drum Smokers Forum
Forum, recipes & BDS information
Big Green Egg
Forum & recipes
Cookshack
Cookshack & FEC forum & recipe archive
Kamado
Forum & recipes
Primo
Forum & recipes
The BBQ Forum
The Kansas City Bar B Q Forum
UK
The UK Barbeque Forum
Weber
The Virtual Weber Bulletin Board

Blog Sites
Backyard Chef
The Hampton Smoker
Big Kahuna Catering: Cooking with Aloha
A site featuring recipes, equipment and tips.
BBQ Junkie
A blog that focuses on what’s happening in the Southern California barbecue scene.
Bucky's Barbecue Blog
Bucky McOinkum's Barbecue
Foodologist
Dr George R. Ujvary
Paddlin Pigs BBQ
Articles, Recipes, Reviews, & more
Plowboys BBQ
Articles, Recipes, Catering & Competition info.
The Survival Gourmet
A Los Angeles caterer's blog about what's for dinner tonight.
Well Fed Network
A compilation of blogs focused on informed, high quality, food-based content.
WhiteTrashBBQ
Real Pit Barbeque from New York City. Recipes, tips, events & competition info.

INJECTIONS

1999-05-19T09:42:00.000-07:00

Injecting is an excellent method for adding flavor & moisture to cuts of meat. Turkeys, chicken breasts, butts, briskets and other roasts can all be injected. Usually meats are injected before going on the cooker. But they can be injected in the middle or at the end of the cooking too. Remember, were talking flavor and moisture.

A little judgement should be used when selecting an injection mixture so as not to overpower the finished product. Based on the fat content of the meat, the amount of oil can be changed accordingly. Pork injections for example, may not need as much oil as chicken injections. Broth can be added in place of water or fruit juices.

Heating the mixture allows for the flavors to blend and the seasonings to dissolve. Always cool the injection before using on raw meat. You can add ice if you are pressed for time. Inject the meat a few hours or the night before cooking. Try to inject the meat evenly, pressing the plunger as you withdraw the needle to avoid pockets of liquid. Slow is the key here. Spend at least 15 seconds during each withdrawal of the needle.

Many store bought injection marinades are found in the barbecue sauce section of supermarkets. They are very popular for injecting deep fried turkeys. Another product that is very popular is called "Fab" and comes in "B" for beef, "C" for chicken and "P" for pork.

--------------- INJECTIONS FOR RAW MEATS -----------------------------------

Thirdeye's Pork Shoulder Injection - I prefer using large bone-in butts or picnics. Get a whole shoulder if you have room in your cooker and plenty of time.

2 cups apple cider or apple juice
2 cups pork or chicken broth
1 cup beer
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons salt, finely ground (I like Tony C's cajun seasoning)
rub to taste, finely ground

Heat to dissolve salt and melt butter. Inject at least 1 ounce of liquid per pound 1 to 2 hours before cooking. On a picnic, get some injection deep near the bone.

-----------------------------------------------

Thirdeye's Brisket Injection

1 can beef broth
3 teaspoons of beef soup base, paste form (substitute powdered Au Jus mix)
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
salt to taste
MSG optional

Heat beef broth to dissolve soup base, mix in other ingredients, cool. Inject 1 to 2 ounces per pound, against the grain, while slowly withdrawing the needle, 1 to 2 hours before cooking. Use a very even pattern for injecting. Massage brisket about 5 minutes to help injection liquid disperse evenly. TIP - The slow injecting with an even pattern will eliminate streaking of the meat.

---------------------------------------------

Stogie's Injecting Juice - Posted by Stogie & a number of his friends on The BBQ Forum. Recommended for pork shoulder (butt).

4 cups apple juice or apple cider
1 cup cider vinegar
1/2 cup Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 cup corn syrup
2 tablespoons favorite rub

Heat thru and then strain (so rub doesn't clog injector) Cool and inject into meat at approximately 1 oz of juice per lb. of meat.

-----------------------------------

Chris Lily Shoulder Injection - Posted on The BBQ Forum and found in Peace Love and Barbecue. Recommended for pork shoulder (butt) Chris and Don McLemore own Big Bob Gibson Bar-B-Q.

3/4 cup apple juice
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup salt (I use Morton's kosher salt)
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

Inject shoulder with injection solution using 1/2 oz. (1 tablespoon) per pound.

------------------------------ INJECTING DURING THE COOK ------------------------

LATE IN THE GAME INJECTION - I have gotten a couple of suggestions from Fishlessman, a regular on the Big Green Egg Forum, for using an injection in the later stages of a pork butt or brisket cook. This would be done during the plateau or right before foiling and holding. I do this on my briskets and pork butts for a moisture bump, and also to enhance the flavors of the meats.

The guidelines I follow are simple:

1. Don't use a strong flavored (or real salty) injection. If you inject in the plateau there will not be enough time for any strong flavors to equalize throughout the meat, cook down and mellow.

2. When injecting hot meats, be sure to heat up your juice before injecting.

3. Don't get western with the amount of injection. A few ounces will usually do the trick.

For brisket, I use a smaller and lite version of my brisket injection above. I might inject 4 ounces into a whole brisket. You can use any left over to go into the foil during the rest.

1/2 can beef broth
1 teaspoon of beef soup base, paste form (substitute powdered Au Jus mix) Optional
A few shakes of Worcestershire sauce
salt to taste
MSG optional

For pork butt, I use the mix below and inject around 4 ounces of the liquid, then use some of the leftover to go into the foil when resting.

6 or 8 ounces of apple juice*
A few shakes of Worcestershire sauce
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon of seasoned salt

* Pork broth or Coca-Cola can be substituted for some of the apple juice.

Norcoredneck's Mom's Rice

1998-09-10T18:58:00.000-07:00

Rice is a nice break from potatoes but some recipes can be kind of boring for some folks ..... Take my word for it, that is NOT the case with this dish. In fact I was torn between putting this recipe in the side dish or the one dish meal section. In all honesty, it can be either one.

To bring you up to speed here, I met Norcoredneck on The BBQ Brethren Forum where we both are regulars. Three days after he gave me the recipe I made my first batch. It has been a favorite ever since. If the recipe has another name, I never heard it....He calls it "The Rice" and I started calling it NorcoMom Rice. Anyway, it all started with a simple question. "Well....how about the lowdown on the rice with smoked bacon?" Below is the whole story. Thanks Norco for sharing this with us.

~thirdeye~

We ate this rice a lot growing up and after we left the house, it was a treat when we came to visit. My mom always pulled me aside and said she made it special for just me. Little did I know she told my brothers the same. We always went home with a country crock, or cool whip container full (never returned her Tupperware). Never found a person who did not like it. The rice is always good as leftovers. Remember when you were a teenager and come home starving? I used to heat up a bowl of it and eat up.

I never watched my mom make it but learned from my sister. I put a twist on it as I began doing Q. When I fire up my smoker I cook the bacon in heavy smoke. Instead of bell peppers I started using 6-8 cored jalapenos. This came to me because I always buy extra when cookin' ABT's. I have some trimmings from ribs I smoked that I plan on using next time I thaw them out. As for the rice, it is a recipe my Mom learned in the Philippines where I was born. The original recipe is a fried rice. Here is the ingredients for hers.

2 cups rice, cooked
1 lb. bacon, cooked and chopped
1 bell pepper, diced
5 or so diced green onions
4 eggs
1 whole garlic minced
soy sauce

Add bell pepper, garlic, onion, and saute in a little of bacon grease. Not too long or peppers get mushy. Add eggs, bacon and stir to scramble eggs. Add some soy sauce and rice. Cook and stir as adding soy sauce to taste. I like more soy in mine.

Norcoredneck

Gumbo

1998-08-01T19:38:00.000-07:00

I was born a couple of blocks from the Gulf of Mexico and one of the dishes found along the entire southern coast is gumbo. It's always been one of my favorites. Gumbo can be made with wild game, chicken, turkey, duck and/or about any kind of seafood. It's kind of like chili, there are really no rules.... In this batch, I used some of my smoked sausage and a smoked thigh in there. Of course being a seafood lover, there is plenty of that too.

Here is the ingredient list, and like I said this is very flexible. I love just plain chicken gumbo too.

1/2 onion - chopped
3 stalks celery - chopped
1 bell pepper - chopped
3 or 4 cloves of garlic - chopped
4 cups chicken broth
4 cups or more of water
1 can Rotel tomatoes
okra, sliced
sea salt to taste

8 shrimp
picked crab meat
crab backs
10 mussels
1 thigh -shredded
1 link smoked sausage - sliced

1 green onions - chopped
handful parsley - chopped
File Gumbo

Here is the 1-2-3 for anyone not familiar with gumbo. You make a roux which is a 50:50 mixture of flour and either.....butter, lard, bacon grease, or oil. Heat on medium high in a heavy bottom skillet and constantly stir for 30 or 40 minutes. (The batch shown is 1/2 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of oil). If you have some bacon grease it's good to add to the oil or lard for a flavor bump. It will go from an off-white color to a caramel or darker color. Once it starts to darken, it will go fast. The darker the roux, the more flavor it will have. You MUST constantly stir or whisk it.

Have the trinity and garlic prepared before making the roux.

When the roux is ready, remove from the burner and gently add the onions (one handful at a time, this stuff is hot) watch yourself because it can splatter. Continue to stir. Then add the celery. By now the roux will be cooling a little. Add the peppers. Continue to stir, cooking the vegetables until they are tender, about 10 minutes, then add the garlic. You may need to go back on the burner during this time. Remove this mixture to a dish for cooling.

In a stockpot, heat the broth, water and tomatoes and simmer 15 minutes to blend. You can add more water than called for. (I also like to put the crab shells and a few of the shrimp shells in as well, then remove them before adding the roux, but this is optional) Spoon in roux one tablespoon at a time and dissolve. Sample the flavor as you go to get a feel for it. Simmer for about 30 minutes to an hour, add your sausage, chicken or other cooked meats along with some okra (saute the okra in a little oil and it won't be slimy) and simmer a little longer. Taste for salt and add as needed. Once the base is ready, add your raw seafood like shrimp or crawdads. Then add crab, clams or mussels last. Cook just a few minutes longer, (don't over cook the seafood) then add chopped parsley and green onions. Sprinkle with gumbo file and you are there.

Gumbo is then served over rice. The rice I used in the opening photograph is some really small grain rice from Bengal.

As an alternate to making the roux from oil, lard or bacon grease, there is a product on the market which gives a lot of the flavor without any of the fat found in a traditional roux.

Okay, okay ..... I know what you are thinking "instant roux is like instant grits or instant coffee", well yes it is. But it works and the best thing is that using it allows me to have a gumbo more often.

The following are the changes in the basic technique from above. In a stockpot, heat the broth, water and tomatoes and simmer to blend. (I put crab shells and a few of the shrimp shells in as well, then remove them later, but this is optional) Simmer about 15 minutes. Sample the flavor as you go to get a feel for it. While the stock is cooking, saute the vegetables is some oil until they are just soft, then add to the stock. Simmer a few more minutes.

Now it's time to make Tony's instant roux (this takes 3 minutes), the directions are on the can..... Over medium heat, whisk 1 cup of roux mix with 2 cups of cool water. Bring to a boil. When mixture thickens, remove from heat and stir until well mixed.

Spoon the roux into the stock a tablespoon at a time, mixing well. Since you are thickening and adding flavor, taste once or twice and watch the thickness of the stock. Once you are happy, add your sausage first, then any raw chicken and simmer this until the sausage is done and the chicken is tender. Lastly, add any smoked chicken, and the seafood, Cook just a few minutes longer, (don't over cook the seafood) then add chopped parsley and green onions. Sprinkle with gumbo file and you are there.

There is a recipe on the Tony's can where they call for mixing the roux in the same pan used for cooking the veggies. I find making the roux separately gives me more control with it.

__________________

Austrian Potato Salad

1998-07-30T17:14:00.000-07:00

Potato salad could easily be the perfect side dish. It has always appealed to me because it goes with every thing from a hamburger to pulled pork to fried chicken. It can be at home at a picnic, a barbecue, at a buffet or at Thanksgiving dinner. There are many different versions, each with distinct ingredients, and some are even served warm. I think it's fits right in with many of the main meat dishes I have on the site.

Here is favorite recipe that comes by way of "Guest Pit Boss" BBQinMaineiac, a regular contributor on the Primo Grill Forum. It has roots in Austria and differs from the salads with mayonayse, yellow mustard or hard boiled eggs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I was a child we'd get a mess of this from the deli. I was raised on it and knew it as German Potato Salad. By whatever name it goes by, it's just plain good. Here is the recipe I like to use for Austrian Potato Salad. When we had pot luck (or BBQ) at work I'd sometimes make it to rave reviews. For best results use the traditional fingerling potatoes, other potatoes can be used- I'd know the difference but most folks probably wouldn't. Heck, I grow fingerling potatoes for this recipe alone.

BBQinMaineiac

Austrian Potato Salad
Better Homes and Gardens Heritage Cook Book Copyright 1975

Ingredients:

6 medium potatoes, cooked, peeled, and sliced 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick, (fingerling potatoes are traditional)
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 TBLS snipped parsley
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black or white pepper

Dressing:

1/4 cup wine vinegar
2 TBLS olive oil
1 tsp Dijon mustard

In a bowl place the first six ingredients. Put the dressing ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Pour the dressing over the salad ingredients in the bowl, toss lightly, then chill thoroughly. Garnish with additional parsley if desired. 8 servings.

Notes:

I've added some chives; that works and adds color. As much as I love garlic there is such a thing as too much garlic with this recipe, so go easy with it. You want the flavor of the fingerling potatoes to be enhanced by the garlic, not overpowered. But by all means none of the ingredients quantities are chiseled in stone.

Enjoy!

Green Chili

1998-06-14T14:11:00.000-07:00

My wife developed this recipe 15 years or 20 years ago and over the years it has undergone several revisions. This chili has won numerous local chili contests and placed either first or second at several regional contests. The recipe is very simple, but still allows for changes to suit to your individual tastes. We like to grind our own pork butt and feel that the key to the success of this chili is roasting the ground pork with the spices on top. Most other recipes just add the spices to the stock pot. Many contest cooks use one or more “dumps” of spices during the cook, but we have found that it is not necessary with this recipe.

~thirdeye~

Green Chili:
5 Lbs. ground pork butt - coarse grind. HINT: Remove most of the fat cap and large pieces of internal fat before grinding to prevent excessive greasiness.
1-1/2 Tbsp. salt
2 Tbsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. garlic salt
1-1/2 Tsp. cumin
1-1/2 bunch green onion, finely chopped in food processor
1 green bell pepper, finely chopped in food processor
16 Tomatillos, pureed in food processor
6 roasted (see notes below) Poblanos, skins peeled, and chopped in food processor
15 roasted (see notes below) Anaheim peppers, skins peeled, and chopped in food processor
4 to 24 fresh Serrano chilies, chopped in food processor. TIP: The Serrano's control the heat in this chile. With fresh chilies, the heat factor will vary from crop to crop. For less "heat" reduce only the number of Serrano chilies. 6 to 10 chilies would give this chili a "mild" heat rating, 20 to 24 chilies will give this chili an "ooh-wee baby" rating. If in doubt, it's better to start off with less. It's better to have great flavor than all heat.
3 Tbsp. Chopped garlic
64 oz can chicken broth

Options:
A handfull of cilantro can be used and processed with the peppers, onion and tomatillos.

Here is how the peppers, onion and tomatillos look like out of the food processor. This is why this is called green chili.

Roux:
2 Cups cold water
1 cup flour
Slowly mix the water and flour together to avoid clumping. This will serve as a thickener and will be used toward the end of the cook.

Cooking Method:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place an even layer of ground pork in a roasting pan and sprinkle the top with all of the dry spices. Do not mix the spices into the pork.

Roast (without turning) for about 45 minutes. After roasting, the pork on the edge of the pan will be done, but the center will NOT be completely cooked.

The bark that forms on top of the ground pork is key to the flavor of this chili. Note that the bones from the butt were included when roasting for even more flavor and they can be added to the chili for an hour or two then removed.

Place all of the meat and drippings into a large stockpot and break up with a fork. Add all other ingredients except Roux. Add enough water to desired thickness. Add more water, if needed, as chili cooks. Cook for 2-3 hrs on low or until chilies have achieved desired doneness. Thicken with Roux to the desired consistency. Allow to cook for 15-20 minutes or until flour “taste” has cooked away and blended.

NOTES:

If you like stew-like green chili, an option is to add some cubes of par boiled potatoes and some coarse chopped sweet onions toward the end of the cook.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR ROASTING CHILIES, AND REMOVING SKINS - Place fresh chilies on BBQ (medium heat) or in oven at 375 degrees, or use your propane weed burner and roast until the skin is blistered and charred. The upper photo below shows peppers in the early stages of roasting. Put the roasted peppers in a paper grocery bag, keep the top closed to steam the skins loose. To Remove Skins: Wearing rubber gloves..... Peel the blistered skin by hand, or rinse peppers under kitchen faucet to remove skin and seeds. TIP: The chilies can be roasted, steamed and frozen in plastic bags with the skins still on, to keep a full year. Put the amount needed for each batch is a single bag, defrost and rinse away skin and seeds.

When roasting large quantities of peppers, lay them out and blast with a weed burner. These peppers are ready to go into a paper bag for steaming.

SIDE DISH - Ranch Style Beans

1998-05-07T10:00:00.000-07:00

There are quite a few recipes that use canned beans. Most of them are sweet barbecue beans, sometimes with things like brown sugar or molasses and cooked with bacon. Here is a recipe using my favorite canned beans, Ranch Style Beans. These beans have Texas roots and were introduced on the market in 1934. They were a favorite of President Lyndon Johnson and were often served on his ranch. These beans are not sweet but have a hint of chili powder. Ranch Style Beans are ok straight from the can, but here is how I like to prepare them.

Ranch Style Beans come in 3 varieties, regular, jalapeno and sweet onion.

1 can Ranch Style Beans
1 bottle of beer
2 cloves of garlic – not peeled
2 green onions (including some of the tops) - chopped
1 handful of green bell pepper – chopped
1 slice of bacon or some ham – cubed
rub
salt & pepper
corn oil

In a 2 qt. pot, on low heat, add a little oil and the garlic. Slowly roast the garlic for about 20 minutes, turning often, until it is soft. Remove from pan, squeeze the garlic out of the husk and smash it. Add the bacon or ham to the pot and sauté for a few minutes. Add the green bell pepper followed by the green onion. When the peppers and onions begin to soften, add the beans along with the garlic, bring the beans to a simmer. Add ½ of the bottle of beer and some rub. Continue to simmer, uncovered for about 10 minutes then lower the temp and reduce to desired thickness, add salt & pepper to taste. At this point, the beans can go onto the cooker to get some smoke flavor. Beans may be partially covered to control the reduction. Add more beer if needed during the reduction.

Big Green Eggplant Parmesan

1998-04-22T15:13:00.000-07:00

1 medium-large eggplant, peeled
Salt
Pam or spray olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
1-15oz can diced tomatoes
Freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Italian herbs (dried)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
½ Ib. fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
½ cup grated parmigiano-reggiano

Cut eggplants into round slices about 1" thick. Place slices in a colander set over a bowl, salt generously on both sides, and set aside to drain for 1 hour.

Fire up the Egg (or other cooker) and allow your fire to stabilize. You will need a indirect set up , plate setter legs down, and a grate temperature of 350°. A light wood will give this dish a "brick oven" flavor.

Meanwhile, heat 1 teaspoon or so of olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring often with a wooden spoon, until golden, 1-2 minutes. Add tomatoes and juice from the can, the balsamic vinegar, Italian herbs, season to taste with salt and pepper.

Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Set sauce aside. Brush excess salt off eggplant, pat each slice dry with paper towels, and set aside. Spray the slices of eggplant with cooking spray or olive oil and fry in a deep skillet over medium-high heat turning once, until golden and soft, 2—3 minutes per side. Transfer eggplant with a slotted metal spatula to a wire rack to drain. Season to taste with pepper.

Spray the baking dish with cooking spray. Spread a large spoonful of sauce over bottom of a baking dish. Cover sauce with a single layer of eggplant slices. Spoon remaining sauce over the eggplant. Add the mozzarella slices and sprinkle with parmesan cheeses to cover the eggplant.

Move to the Egg and bake until sauce is bubbling hot and cheese is melted and golden on top, 25 to 35 minutes.

SIDE DISH - Senate Bean Soup

1998-04-11T09:49:00.000-07:00

Here is another Great Northern Bean recipe. It is very basic, so anything you feel like adding will most likely work out just fine. Using smoked turkey instead of the ham is an option. Using broth instead of water will make for a richer stock. My comments and any changes to the original recipe are in red italics.

The origin of this famous soup is unknown. There are two stories about the first request of this soup in the Senate. Senator Fred Dubois of Idaho and Senator Knute Nelson of Minnesota are both linked to the first request to serve the soup. The Dubois version has mashed potatoes added as a thickener. The recipe served in the Senate today does not include mashed potatoes.

Everyone claims to have a recipe for “Senate Bean Soup”. This one is from the famous Belgian cook Jean Debruyn and is prepared every day in the U.S Senate Restaurant. About 4 servings.

SENATE BEAN SOUP

2 cups dried Great Northern (or Navy) beans, pre-soaked in water overnight, then drained.

2 quarts water

2 smoked ham shanks (or smoked ham hocks or ham bone with some meat left on)

1 medium onion - diced

2 green onions (with tops) - diced

¼ teaspoon liquid smoke (only use this if you want extra smokey beans)
¼ cup butter (or 1/8 cup of butter and 1 tablespoon olive oil) I use much less butter than this.

1 bay leaf

2 cloves of garlic – crushed

1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon summer savory (optional)
1 teaspoon epazote (optional)

salt to taste. Add the salt at the end, otherwise the beans will be tough.

Garnish with chives or chopped parsley.

COOKING METHOD

Melt the butter in a frying pan on medium heat. Add the onions and sauté until browned. Put the beans and the water into a large pot or dutch oven. Add the onions, ham, bay leaf, pepper, garlic and liquid smoke and optional spices. Cover and boil gently until the beans are tender. The beans can be cooked in the oven, just be careful to adjust and monitor the temperature (250 to 300 degrees) to maintain a gentle boil. Add a little more water if needed. As the beans become tender, add salt to taste.

Remove the ham and shred the meat, then return to soup. For a heartier and thicker ham and bean stew simply add more ham and cook down the broth. If the beans become too thick during this stage of cooking, add chicken broth (not water) to thin.

SIDE DISH - Vidallia Onion Pie

1998-04-02T13:43:00.000-08:00

Vidalia Onion Pie
This makes enough filling for 2 pies

This recipe is a slightly modified version of one posted by Larry Ward on
The Big Green Egg forum – it is from Tea Time at the Masters

2 lbs thinly sliced Vidalia Onions or other sweet onions.
1- cup sour cream
3- eggs
1- cup Pepper Jack cheese, grated
1- cup sharp cheddar, grated
6- tsp butter
4- pieces of smoked bacon fried and crumbled, or sausage (fried, drained & crumbled)
2- splashes of hot sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1- tsp white pepper

Saute onions in butter until clear. Let stand and cool some.
Grate cheese. Beat the eggs add the pepper jack, salt, pepper, sour cream and bacon to the eggs and mix well. Add to the onion mixture.

Pour into 9 inch (unbaked) pie shells, add the cheddar cheese on top and bake at 375 for 40 minutes and let cool and serve. For baking on your cooker or grill, use a pizza stone on the grate to diffuse the heat. Cooking over wood coals or lump charcoal gives this pie an excellent flavor.

RUBS

1998-03-11T07:23:00.000-08:00

The history and traffic in spices goes back to the days before recorded history. In ancient times, pepper for example, was more valuable than gold and only available to the upper class. Columbus arrived in America while searching for a direct route to the Spice Islands. Many early Americans made their fortunes as spice merchants. Today, with our various cultures and regional tastes, the United States is the world’s major spice buyer.

Let’s face it, seasonings make food taste better. When it comes to spices, we are very lucky. Spices from around the world are at our fingertips and they are affordable! When it comes to barbecue, several regions across the United States have developed a footprint or theme particular to local tastes. Kansas City, Memphis, the Carolina’s, Texas, and California combine barbecue methods with certain spice blends, generally referred to as “rubs”. There are many fine commercial rubs on the market with a huge variety of flavors. With a little guidance, the back yard pit master can experiment and develop home made rubs too. Get to know your spice options, here is a glossary of spices that is very useful.

Below are some starter rubs that will help you develop your own rubs. The amounts of ingredients are just a guide. Experiment by adding or subtracting one or two things at a time. Try to get the freshest spices you can find. Use caution when measuring salts because the type and even brand of salt will make a difference. 1 tablespoon of granular salt = 1-1/2 tablespoons of Morton's Kosher or 2 tablespoons of Diamond Crystal Kosher. TIP: Use only one brand of Kosher salt, and your seasonings will be more consistant.

In rub recipes below calling for Kosher salt, Morton's brand is used. When sea salt is called out, a course grind is used unless fine is specified.

The Basic Rub – About as easy as it gets
Ingredients:
Salt
Pepper

Combine amounts to taste and apply directly to the meat just before cooking. Variations of salt include sea salt, Kosher salt or smoked salts. Try to avoid iodized salt. Variations to pepper include black pepper, white pepper, red pepper and the grinds can be fine or coarse. Fresh cracked pepper will be more flavorful. Other variations: Try adding some garlic powder or maybe some onion powder, paprika, chili powder or some sugar. Okay, you see where I'm headed........

No Sugar Rub – A traditional rub for low and slow cooks of brisket, beef ribs, pork ribs and butts. The lack of sugar does not promote premature browning during long cooks.

Ingredients:
3T Hungarian paprika
4t sea salt (2t fine, 2t coarse)
2t garlic salt
1 ½ t cayenne
4t black pepper
4t chili powder (top hat)
4t garlic powder
4t onion powder
2t cumin

Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly

Brisket Rub - Another traditional beef rub without sugar.

Ingredients
1 c. kosher salt
¼ cup garlic powder
¼ cup onion powder
1/8 cup ground thyme
1/8 cup ground bay
1/8 cup black pepper
1/8 cup celery seed
1/8 cup Hungarian paprika.

Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Burn's Best Brisket Rub
Jim Burns is a past president of the National Barbecue Association. Rub about three quarters of this rub onto the brisket and cook until the internal temperature is 165°. Remove brisket, sprinkle with the remaining rub, wrap in foil and return to the cooker. Cook until a probe will slide in the brisket with little resistance. Rest and slice.
Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups sea salt
1/2 cup mild chili powder
1 cup four-peppercorn blend
1/2 cup seasoning salt
1/2 cup paprika
1/2 cup garlic powder
1/2 cup onion powder

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

Here is Jim Goode’s BBQ Beef Rub. It can be used when low salt is desired. The sugar in the rub will brown and make a "carmelized crust" when using higher cook temperatures. It has been posted for quite a few years on The BBQ Forum. It inspired a similar rub known as JJ’s Rub which is exactly the same with 1-1/2 teaspoons of rosemary added.

Jim Goode's BBQ Beef Rub
"This beef rub is great for beef, pork and lamb. Once you mix the spices they'll keep about 4 months in an airtight jar. When ready to use, just rub into the meat, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate the night before grilling."
Jim Goode

Original recipe yield: 3 /4 cup.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 tablespoons paprika
2 teaspoons mustard powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons dried basil
1 teaspoon ground bay leaves
3/4 teaspoon ground coriander seed
3/4 teaspoon ground savory
3/4 teaspoon dried thyme
3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
salt to taste

In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, paprika, mustard powder, onion powder, garlic powder, basil, bay leaves, coriander, savory, thyme, black pepper, white pepper, cumin, and salt. Store in an airtight jar at room temperature until ready to use.

Montreal Steak Rub – A coarse rub suited for beef, but also good on pork, chicken and potatoes.

Ingredients:
3T coriander seeds
3T black peppercorns
4T dried bell pepper (mix green & red bell pepper)
2T onion flakes
2T garlic flakes
2T sea salt
1T caraway seeds
2T dill seeds
1T dried thyme
1t dried lemon peel

Combine all ingredients and grind in a coffee grinder.

Rib Rub - Good rub on pork ribs or butts

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika
2 tablespoons garlic salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground green pepper
1 teaspoon lemon pepper
1 teaspoon ground cayenne
2 tablespoons Turbinado sugar
2 teaspoons fine ground sugar
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon dry mustard
1 tablespoon ground ginger

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

No Salt Rib Rub for Honey Coated Ribs - There is no salt in this rub, no sugar either. All the sweet comes at the end.
Ingredients:

3 tablespoons paprika
1 tablespoon onion powder
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon ground basil
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon red pepper
1 tablespoon mustard powder

Warmed honey

Combine all the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly. Brush ribs with warm honey about 10 minutes before ribs come off the pit.

Hot-N-Sweet – A rub suited for chicken, pork or vegetables like corn-on-the-cob or squash.
Ingredients:

1 ½ cup turbinado sugar
½ cup onion salt
½ cup garlic salt
2T mustard powder
3T top hat chili powder
1T green peppercorns, crushed
1T red peppercorns, crushed
1 T black pepper
1 T lemon pepper
2T cayenne
1t dried rosemary
½ cup paprika
1T dried basil
1t rubbed sage

Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly

Chislic

1998-03-03T17:47:00.000-08:00

Chislic is a meat appetizer popular in bars throughout South Dakota and in parts of North Dakota. Get too far away from the Dakotas, and folks have never heard of it. Depending which bartender you ask, the origin of Chislic has either Russian or German roots. One interesting story I heard was that chislic started being served to folks who did not care to partake in two other regional bar snacks.... Rocky Mountain oysters and lamb fries.

The name chislic loosely means "meat on a stick", and it is served on skewers or with toothpicks. Generally speaking it is deep fried cubes of meat which is served with garlic salt, crackers (and sometimes hot sauce) on the side. You season the meat to your liking with a few pinches of garlic salt & a shake or two of hot sauce. It goes really good with cold beer.

Lamb or mutton is the most traditional meat, venison is very popular when it's in season, as is beef. Variations include marinating the meat before frying, dipping in batter before frying, and hot grilling the meat when it's cooked for large gatherings. Regardless of the cooking method, the meat is best when it's medium rare.

Marinade #1:
50% Italian Dressing & 50% French Dressing - this is okay if you like a little sweet on top of zesty & salty. This combination helps tone down the lamb flavor. This marinade is hard on the oil and more challenging to grill because of the sugars in the French dressing.

Marinade #2:
Italian Dressing - this universal marinade has everything going for it... nice seasonings and some oil help enhance the flavors of lamb and venison. It also acts as a tenderizer. It's my personal favorite if I elect to marinate chislic.

Marinade #3:
Buttermilk - this is popular when using venison and you want to kill some of the gamy flavor, and to tenderize the meat. I like the flavors of lamb and venison, so I really don't use this marinade.

Table Seasoning - Plain 'ol garlic salt from the store works fine as your seasoning, but I have my own recipe I like better. If you don't care for garlic you can use plain seasoned salt.

thirdeye style Garlic Salt
1 teaspoon Lawry's garlic salt
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon seasoned salt (I use Penzey's seasoned salt)
1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder (again, Penzey's is my favorite)
Blend everything in a spice grinder until it's very fine. The fresh grinding really wakes up the flavors, and the fine grind makes the seasoning stick to the meat cubes better.

Here is a tray of freshly cooked lamb chislic. The meat in the foreground was marinated in Italian dressing, and the other pile is plain. Both were deep fried in peanut oil. It's better to cook the unseasoned meat first so the flavors from the marinade don't transfer to the cooking oil. Again, the trick is to not overcook the meat.

Plum Pork

1998-03-02T19:35:00.000-08:00

This is a Chinese appetizer that has a lot going for it..... It's flavorful, colorful and very hands-on. It can be served warm, but actually it's delicious when chilled, then set out at room temperature. This means it can be made the day ahead which is a real bonus. You will need to do some planning as this calls for an overnight marinade, followed by grilling and basting, then using a different finishing sauce, then glazing, and served with another sauce for dipping. Relax, the whole thing is much easier than you think, and well worth it.

PLUM PORK

2 to 4 pork tenderloins

Marinade:
5 - teaspoons sugar
1-1/2 teaspoon salt
2 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon ginger juice (or use the minced ginger in the tube)
4 tablespoons catsup
4 tablespoons soy sauce
5 teaspoons wine
1 teaspoon five-spice powder

Mix all of the marinade ingredients together, reserve about 1/3 of this for basting during the cook.

Finishing Sauce:
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
1/4 cup honey

Mix the hoisin & honey together.

Plum Dipping Sauce with Sesame Seeds:
1 12 ounce jar of plum preserves (or jam)
2 tablespoons vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar (packed)
1 teaspoon finely chopped dried red chili pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon finely chopped green onion
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
sesame seeds

Combine all ingredients for the dipping sauce, EXCEPT sesame seeds, in a saucepan and bring to a boil stirring constantly. Remove from heat and cool. Refrigerate in a covered container overnight to blend flavors. Prior to serving, toast sesame seeds and place in a separate bowl.

Cooking Method:
Make the dipping sauce one or two days before you plan on cooking. Make the marinade and marinate pork for at least 4 hours, or overnight (8 hours) if you wish. Make the finishing sauce while the cooker is coming up to temp, keep at room temperature. The finishing sauce can be warmed slightly or thinned with a little apple juice.

Preheat cooker to 375° with an indirect or raised direct set up. Roast the tenderloins until the internal temperature is around 150°, basting occasionally with the reserved marinade. Turn & rotate as needed. When close to done, baste with the finishing sauce, remove and rest for a few minutes. You can add more finishing sauce to even out the coating. Either ramp up the cooker and briefly move the tenderloins directly over the coals or move into an oven set on broil in order to glaze the meat. Be careful not to burn the glaze.

Let pork cool and cut into thin slices. Serve the plum sauce and toasted sesame seeds along side the sliced pork. Dip the sliced pork into the plum dipping sauce, then into the sesame seeds. Then enjoy.

Two marinated loins ready for grilling

Grilling with the basting sauce

The finishing sauce

Cowboy Potatoes

1998-02-20T15:14:00.000-08:00

One of the easiest side dishes when cooking outdoors are Cowboy Potatoes. Otherwise known as Campfire Potatoes or Hobo Potatoes and probably a lot of other names. They can be as dressed up or as plain as you feel like making them.

The basic drill is to par-boil some 3/8" thick potato slices with the skin on, drain and let cool. Lay them out on a double sheet of heavy duty foil that has been sprayed with Pam or rubbed with oil. Season with at least salt and pepper, add onion slices, garlic or fresh herbs if you like. Add some butter or olive oil. Make a pouch with the foil, sealing the top and one end. Before sealing the last end add 1 to 2 ounces of water or beer then seal. You can make a large pouch or individual pouches.

At this point these can be refrigerated or they can go in the oven or on the cooker. If you are making them to eat on a camping trip, they can be heated on one of the rocks in the fire ring. 45 minutes to an hour at 250° will be enough time to warm them up and release the flavors of the onion and garlic. The pouch really doesn't need to be turned over, just rotated end to end and mabye shaken from side to side once.

Sausage Recipes

1998-02-19T20:17:00.000-08:00

Making fresh sausage is one of my favorite hobbies. Here are a few of the recipes used by myself and many of my friends on a regular basis. When called for, there is no substitution for pork butt, it was made for sausage. This first section is for FRESH sausage. No curing agents are used and it should be cooked by hot smoking or grilling. When cooking, watch for the sausage to plump up, you may want to lower your pit temp at this point because if it heats up too quickly it will spit juice and you loose moisture. If the pit temp is way too high, you run the risk of it splitting which will dry it out really fast. I like a nice even pit temp so the links sneak up on an internal temperature of 160° to 170° during the rest. I pull them off the cooker about 5° before my target final serving temperature. If you go much higher the sausage may become greasy, then it will begin to dry out.

Remember, there are no real sausage secrets....just make them, season them and cook them properly

It's best to start with some established recipes, possibly modified slightly to your personal taste. After you make a few batches and get a feel for ingredients and the finished flavors, you can easily come up with your own sausage recipes. For example, I like garlic so much that I usually add more than what is called out for in most recipes. Instead of just black pepper, I like to use a blend of peppers.

thirdeye's Base Sausage Recipe & Meat to Fat Ratio for Fresh Sausage:

You can use this as a base to develop your own sausage recipes. Just remember to add additional spices or seasonings, as well as different liquids to suit your personal tastes. I like to use ground pork butt, it has a ratio of approximately 70:30, the 30% is the fat. Some commercial sausages are 40% to 50% fat.

5 pounds of ground pork butt
5 to 6 teaspoons of kosher salt
2 to 3 teaspoons of white pepper, or black pepper or a mix of the two.
1/2 to 5/8 cup of ice cold water or other liquid
seasonings to taste

Most sausages have a dominant flavor, like fennel in Italian sausage or sage in a breakfast sausage. The addition of red pepper or cayenne can turn Italian into hot Italian. See it's really easy. So let's say I wanted a garlic sausage. I might add 2 to 3 tablespoons of minced fresh garlic to the base recipe. I could also season it to taste with granulated garlic. If I wanted to sweeten it up a hair I might substitute some white wine for some of the water, or maybe add a teaspoon of sugar.

When adding the liquid, make sure it is ice cold. Liquid helps to distribute seasonings as well as bind the sausage. It must be mixed in well. You want the texture to be "tacky", but not wet enough to be "soupy". If you are using a lot of fresh ingredients like chopped onion, garlic, parsley etc., you may be able to reduce the amount of liquid. You kind of have to learn the right feel when adding liquid. A rest in the fridge overnight will allow the spices to blend and the liquid to be absorbed.

Be sure and sample your sausage. No, don't taste it raw. But you can fry up a silver dollar sized pattie and sample it.

A note on pepper... black pepper - unripe seeds of the plant with the skin left on
white pepper - ripe seeds with the skin removed. Black pepper will usually be hotter.

A note on salt... there are several brands of kosher salt, sea salt and canning salt on the market. It's best to either stick with one brand or weigh the amount of salt you prefer to use. By weighing you could jump from kosher (which has a coarse grain) to canning salt (fine grain) and maintain the amount of saltiness. The one salt you do not want to use is iodized salt.

RECIPES FOR FRESH SAUSAGES

Any personal changes or comments to the recipes are in parenthesis. The rule of thumb with all sausage recipes, add or subtract quantities to suit your taste.

FARM SAUSAGE

Unknown source on this one. Wonderful stuffed, in bulk or packaged for fatties. This has the classic flavors of a Midwest breakfast sausage but it is also right at home served on a bun or as a main dish with fried potatoes and onions.

3 lbs. ground pork butt
2 teaspoons ground sage
¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoons coarse black pepper
1 teaspoon ground ginger
½ teaspoon minced garlic
¼ cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
¼ cup ice cold water

Grind the meat, mix in the seasonings and water until well blended. Let rest overnight for seasonings to blend.

Sicilian Italian with Wine & Cheese (10 lb. recipe)
R. Kutas

This is a particular favorite of my friend Tom. I don't think I have ever seen him make less than a 20 pound batch of it. This is a teaser recipe that comes from the Rytek Kutas book titled Great Sausage Recipes and Meat Curing. If you are serious about sausage making, you need this book in your library. The Ingredient Store carries it along with many supplies.

8 lb. pork butts
2 lb. lean beef (I omit the beef & add 2 more lb. or butt)
2T powdered dextrose (fine sugar will work, dextrose is less sweet)
1T cracked black pepper
4T kosher salt
3 t fennel seed
2 T crushed red peppers
2 C ice cold Pinot Grigio
6T good romano cheese, crumbled (I bump this amt. to 10 T)

Coarse grind the pork, blend all ingredients, chill for several hours or overnight, then stuff.

Hot Italian (10 lb. recipe)

I honestly can't recall the source for this one either. My copy was hand-written before preparing to post it here. This is my standard Italian sausage. I package some in bulk for spaghetti sauce, pizza toppings and sausage sandwiches. The remainder is stuffed into casings or packaged for fatties.

10 lb. pork butts (trim some of the fat)
1T cracked black pepper
3T kosher salt
5 t fennel seed
2 1/2 T crushed red peppers
½ C minced garlic
1 ¼ t thyme
1 ½ t crushed bay leaf
1 ½ t nutmeg
1 ½ t coriander
6 t sweet paprika
1 ½ C ice cold water

Coarse grind the pork, blend all ingredients, chill for several hours or overnight, then stuff.

Chaurice - (5lb. recipe) This is a cajun sausage which is fairly spicy. It can be served at breakfast, in a sandwich, used in a gumbo, or just served as a main meat for dinner.

5 lb. Pork butt
2 T salt
2 C onion, chopped fine
3 T parsley, chopped fine
2 t crushed thyme
5 cloves of garlic, chopped fine (add more if you really like garlic)
3 to 4 t cayenne (you can make this as hot as you like, you might even start with 2t)
1 t crushed red pepper flakes (add these at your own risk)
1 t black pepper
1 crushed bay leaf
1/2 to 1 C of ice water or ice cold beer (not too heavy on the water as the onion will add some moisture)

Coarse grind the pork, blend all ingredients, chill for several hours or overnight, then stuff.

RECIPES FOR SAUSAGES WITH CURING AGENTS ADDED

Bigwheel's World Famous Genuine Texas Hotlinks
Posted by Bigwheel on The BBQ Forum

If you like hotlinks, give this one a try. Bigwheel is a regular on the Klose Forum and the BBQ Forum, which is where I first learned of this wonderful recipe. I have seen slight variations to this classic hot link recipe, the most common is to go with all pork instead of the 2# of beef & some call for a cup of beer instead of a bottle. I use a whole bottle but only mix some into the cut meat before grinding. The remainder I mix into the meat after grinding. Then I let it sit in the beer fridge overnight before stuffing or wrapping in bulk. This lets all of the moisture get absorbed and the flavors blend. Like I said, this does have some heat, use your own judgement on the red pepper and cayenne. For some reason, fatties or hand-rolled links are not as hot as stuffed links. I guess some of the fat rendering out takes some heat with it. This one does call for Tenderquick.

5 pounds boston butt
2 pounds lean beef
1 bottle ice cold beer
2 tablespoons fresh ground black pepper
2 tablespoons crushed red pepper
2 tablespoons Hungarian paprika
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh garlic
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
2 teaspoons ground corriander
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground bay leaves
1 teaspoon whole anise seeds
1 teaspoon whole mustard seeds
1 teaspoon sugar
2 teaspoons ground thyme
6 teaspoons Morton's Tender Quick
1 teaspoon MSG

Mix all the spices, cure, and garlic into the beer and place in refrigerator while you cut up the meats into grinder sized pieces. Dump the spiced beer on the cut meat and mix it up good. Run spiced meat mixture through the grinder coarse or medium plate and stuff into medium hog casings. Smoke or slow grill till they are done. Wrap in a piece of bread and slap on the mustard heavy. Wash it down with ice cold beer.

Key Lime Pie

1998-02-19T15:28:00.000-08:00

Key lime pie is one of my favorite desserts. The tart flavor goes extremely well after most any meal especially a heavy meal like barbecue. A cookin' buddy and recipe guru Richard, who you may know from his posts on The Big Green Egg Forum lives down on the Space Coast in Florida so before the '06 holiday season I asked him for his favorite recipe for this classic pie.

Here is the recipe that Richard sent me. The crust is unique due to the coconut flakes and the chopped nuts. The filling is nice and tart because of the reduction.

Pie Crust
1/4 cup turbinado sugar
1 cup graham crackers, crushed
1/2 cup pecans, macadamia, almonds, walnuts or a combination, chopped coarse
1/4 cup coconut flakes, chopped coarse
4 Tbs butter, melted

Optional: 1/2 oz of Gran Marnier or Amaretto can be added.

Mix the ingredients and spread around the bottom and edges of an oven proof pie pan. Bake @350°F until lightly brown, 8 to 10 minutes.

Filling
1 Cup Key Lime Juice, Nellies & Joe's Key West Lime Juice
2 – 14 ozs. cans condensed milk, sweetened
3 large egg yolks
Pinch Salt

Place the lime juice in a small pan and heat over medium heat to reduce the volume by half. Strain and cool. Empty cans of condensed milk into mixing bowl and chill. When key lime juice is cool add to condensed milk, mixing thoroughly. Lightly beat egg yolks and add to milk mixture add salt and blend well. Pour into the pre-baked crust. Bake pie at 350° for 10 minutes. Chill 2 hours. Serve with whipped cream. For an extra touch, try a final garnish with mint or spearmint leaves.

Pig Candy - Pig Tails

1998-02-19T13:07:00.000-08:00

Here is an old time favorite appetizer or snack everyone enjoys. Pig Candy, as it is known in barbecue circles is nothing more that some thick sliced bacon with seasoned brown sugar or a sugar based rub applied as a topper. When they are cooked flat they resemble jerky or the slices can be knotted and are called Pig Tails.

Here is all you need:

Thick sliced bacon
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Optional seasonings could be any homemade sugar based rub. Ideally your rub should have no salt. I have mixed both Dizzy Pig Raging River and Jim Goode's Beef Rub with brown sugar with good results.

Set up your cooker for an indirect cook with a grate temp around 300° with a drip pan. Lay strips of bacon on the grate above the drip pan for 20 minutes, turn and rotate bacon as needed, season with the sugar mix, then cook around 20 minutes minutes more.

For making Pig Tails, remove the bacon from the cooker after 20 minutes, tie in a loose overhand knot, season with the sugar mix and return to the cooker to finish.

Monitor doneness after turning for your level of crispness. Don't sample right off of the pit, that sugar will be hot!! Remove to platter for cooling. Don't wait for the strips to be completely crisp before removing, as they will firm up during cooling.

Cream Corn

1998-02-19T12:03:00.000-08:00

This is a dish that was inspired by a cream corn served up by Rudy's Country Store and Bar-B-Q. There are numerous locations around San Antonio, my favorite being the store on Highway 151 at the Seaworld exit. It has been several years since I have been to Texas and I understand Rudy's has some franchise stores that have opened as well. I can only hope that the quality of the food has remained consistent.

Anyway, like most signature dishes there is some secrecy involved. I once asked the late "Doc" Holiday about his corn recipe and he just laughed and said the secret was all the love that went into it. He complimented me on my cookin' site, then produced a free sample of smoked turkey, thus ending the discussion.

I have a collection of 5 recipes, one of which claims to come from an ex-employee of Rudy's. Some use twice the cream cheese than I think is necessary. Below is my version of cream corn.

2 lb frozen super sweet corn, thawed and drained
As much love as you can spare
1/2 stick butter, cubed
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1/8 to 1/4 cup whipping cream
2 to 3 ounces of cream cheese, cubed
Sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Puree some of the corn to act as a thickener. Add all ingredients except the salt and pepper to a pot and slowly bring up to a low simmer, stirring occasionally. Once the cheese has started to melt, lower the temp and allow the corn to thicken. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add sugar as needed to suit your sweet tooth.

This can be cooked in the oven in a casserole dish or for real large batches use a crock pot.

Elote - Mexican Grilled Corn

1998-02-19T11:27:00.000-08:00

Elote is the Mexican name for corn on the cob. It can be cooked using a variety of methods (steamed, boiled, roasted in the husks or grilled without the husks) and can be flavored with many different seasonings. The lime mayonnaise and some sort of cheese are standard toppings and really make this corn special. Here is my version of this classic street food.

Ingredients needed for 4 or 5 ears of corn:

The Slather:
3 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
3 teaspoons fresh lime juice

The Seasoning Rub:
1/2 teaspoon chili powder (my favorite is Texas Red Dog from Penderey's)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon seasoned salt

2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan, shredded Mexican blend cheese, Cotija anejo, or Queso fresco. (these last two cheeses are mild Mexican cheese that crumble easily)

Cooking oil spray
Melted butter
Napkins - You will need plenty!

Preparation:
Prepare grill with a medium hot fire. Combine mayonnaise and juice in a small bowl, check the taste … there should be a nice lime flavor... adjust the lime juice if needed. Combine chili powder, cayenne, cumin and salt in the second bowl, adjust any seasonings to suit your taste. Have a third bowl with the grated or shredded cheese.

Spray corn with cooking oil spray. Place corn on grill and baste the upside with melted butter. Grill corn 12 to 15 minutes or until tender, turning frequently and basting with butter after each turn. (You are always basting the corn AFTER turning to avoid burning the butter). Some of the kernels will begin to char and this is an indication you are approaching doneness. When corn is done, remove corn from grill; brush with mayonnaise mixture, sprinkle on some of the seasoning, then sprinkle with cheese mixture. Serve immediately.

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I served my Elote at the 2011 Wild West Eggfest to rave reviews.

Maple Planked Brie

1998-02-19T06:46:00.000-08:00

A few years back, a couple of days before Thanksgiving a guy on the next bar-stool asked me if I was doing anything new and different for the big meal. My reply was “I always try to do something different, but it’s not a good idea to try something new when you are cooking for guests.” Well….Thanksgiving morning I broke that rule.

An inspiration from a cookin’ buddy by the name of Evans Tabor reminded me to think outside the box. He and his wife enjoy preparing and serving a wonderful brie appetizer cooked on a grilling plank. Evans signs on under the name of Chubby on The Big Green Egg Forum so I had seen some photographs and read praises from folks who have sampled this treat at some of the Eggfests. Here is the recipe the Tabors’ use. (In my photograph below, I have made slight modifications with respect to the colors of bell peppers used. I also used some parchment paper to insure easy removal since I was not serving this one on the plank).

Maple-Planked Brie with Garlic and Roasted
Peppers – Inspired by a recipe found in the "Sticks & Stones Cookbook" by Ted Reader.

Ingredients

1 maple plank, soaked (at least 4 hours)
2 small wheels brie (1/4 lb. each)
1/4 cup olive oil
6-8 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 red bell pepper , roasted, peeled, seeded and finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and minced (optional)
2 Tbs chopped fresh thyme
2 Tbs balsamic vinegar
Black pepper and salt to taste

Procedure

Preheat grill to 400 degrees.
Scrape rind off top of each wheel of brie to expose cheese and set aside.
Heat olive oil in saute pan (or cast iron skillet) and add garlic, cooking until softened but not browned.
Add green onions, peppers, thyme, vinegar and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove from heat and salt & pepper to taste.
Place the maple plank on direct grill and listen for it to “pop” (about 8-10 minutes).
Divide the pepper mixture evenly on top of brie wheels and place on plank.
Close lid and bake for 8-10 minutes until cheese begins to melt…
Serve with slices of crusty bread or crudites.

On top of sharing his cooking skills, Evans markets an accessory for the small Green Egg called GrateMates, which allow for a variety of grate set-ups, use of a pizza/baking stone, Dutch oven and even a wok.

Additional Notes on Plank Cooking

Planks come in several flavors like cedar, hickory and alder. I prefer the alder ones for seafood and hickory when I want a stronger flavor. They are available at many stores in the grilling section.

Planks should be soaked in liquid for several hours. Water is the most common liquid, but beer or a wine/water mix can be used too. Start you planks with the cooking side down for a few minutes (just to kill any surface bacteria), then turn over. Paint a coating of oil on the cooking side to prevent the food from sticking. If cooking skinless fillets, a layer of fresh herbs, lemon slices or some crushed garlic can go onto the plank. Heat the plank for another few minutes then add your food. Cook to your desired level of doneness.

Planks can be used several times so following cooking, rinse the plank well and scrub them under warm water. If you want to use soap, DO NOT allow it to remain on the surface very long. You don’t want it to be absorbed into the wood.

Vegetables like sliced zucchini, sliced sweet onion or asparagus are wonderful when cooked on planks. You can marinate them for more flavor. Potatoes are also very good, parboil them first then toss with oil and seasoning before finishing on the plank.

Grilling planks are a great way to experiment with flavor and the presentation is very unique.

SIDE DISH - Beans & Ham with Corn Bread Croutons

1998-01-19T14:14:00.000-08:00

General bean information:

To prepare beans for cooking:
In a colander, rinse the beans under cold water and discard any discolored ones and remove any rocks etc.

Soaking:
Sometimes dried beans are kept in storage for YEARS. Older beans require soaking from 2 to 8 hours (maximum) Fresh beans (this years crop) may not require any soaking. Soaking reduces cooking times. Always soak in cold water. Always drain after soaking and use fresh water for cooking. Excessive soaking will cause beans to swell and split.

Quick Soaking:
In a kettle combine the beans with enough cold water to cover them by 2 inches, bring the water to a boil, and boil the beans for 2 minutes. Remove the kettle from the heat and let the beans soak, covered, for 1 hour. Drain, use fresh water for cooking.

Seasonings and Garnishes:
The rule of thumb is: If you don’t like a particular seasoning, don’t put it in! If you like a particular seasoning add more! Try adding hot sauce, peppers, fresh tomatoes, fresh herbs or cheeses at the table. Salt is usually added at the end of cooking to avoid toughening of the beans. Beans used in salads are salted during cooking to keep them a little firmer.

This is a hearty stew that is hard to beat.

For Soup:
1 lb. (3 cups) dried Great Northern beans
1 lb. smoked ham shanks or hocks
¼ cup bacon drippings (or ¼ cup olive oil)
2 cups chopped onion
2 green onions, chopped
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 lb. peeled and diced tomatoes
4 fresh thyme sprigs
8 cups chicken broth
1 lb. arugula, coarse stems removed (can use fresh spinach or other greens.) Arugula is a mustard green with a peppery flavor.
Tabasco to taste

To cook beans:
Simmer ham shanks in 6 cups of water in a 3 quart saucepan, partially covered, skimming foam as necessary for 1 hour. Reserve 4 cups of cooking liquid and drain ham hocks. Heat bacon drippings in an 8 quart heavy pot over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then cook onion and garlic until soft. Do not burn the garlic. Add tomatoes and thyme, cook for 1 minute. Add chicken broth, reserved cooking liquid, ham hocks and beans. Simmer, covered, stirring occasionally, until beans are tender.

Make croutons while soup simmers:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Melt butter with garlic and toss together with corn bread cubes in a shallow baking pan. Toast in oven until lightly browned and crisp on the outside, about 15 minutes.

Prepare for serving:
Remove ham shanks and shred meat. Return meat to pot and stir in arugla. Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until greens are tender, about 3 to 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper and Tabasco. Serve beans topped with croutons.

SIDE DISH - Pinto Beans

1998-01-10T21:54:00.000-08:00

These beans were inspired by my friend Tom, who is quite the hand at cooking both inside and outside.

3 cups washed Pinto beans
3 or 4 twice smoked ham hocks (or shanks) (or few strips bacon) (or 1/3 lb salt pork)
1 onion, chopped and sweated.
2 green onions with tops, chopped and sweated
2 split and seeded jalapenos (or serrano peppers), chopped
2 or 3 mild green chilis like Anaheim or Big Jim, roasted, skinned then chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, roasted and mashed into paste
1 bay leaf
1/2 T. dry mustard
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
2 T. chili powder “Top Hat” is my favorite
1 can extra Hot Rotel Tomatoes (optional)
1 or 2 t Summer Savory
1 t Epazote
black pepper to taste
salt to taste
Sriracha “hot” chili sauce served at the table.

Cover beans with water and soak overnight. For this years crop, soak about 3 or 4 hours only.

Drain the water off of the beans, put in large pot and cover with fresh water by at least 2 inches. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer. Add the ham hocks, onions, garlic, peppers, bay leaf, mustard, Summer Savory, epazote, black pepper and chili powder. The beans can cook on the stovetop or be moved to the cooker, with the lid on but ajar. Add more water anytime during the cook as needed. Lastly, add the Worcestershire and tomatoes and cook for about 30 minutes more. Remove the hocks and pick the meat off of the bone, return to beans. Salt to taste at the end to avoid making the skin on the beans tough.

To reduce heat, use regular canned tomatoes and/or omit the serranos.

For smoky beans, move the Dutch oven into your cooker and remove the cover for the final hour or two, keeping your eye on the liquid level, adding water as needed. (The twice smoked hocks will give the beans a small amount of smoke flavor without extra smoke from the cooker.)

SIDE DISH - Tamales

1998-01-08T12:01:00.000-08:00

I grew up eating homemade tamales and I still make several batches throughout the year, especially around Christmas. A dozen or two make excellent gifts. They are good fiesta food and I like serve them as an accompaniment to barbecued meats or as an appetizer. They balance perfectly with a bowl of chili. Tamales are easy to make, keep well in the refrigerator and freeze well. They are a tube of corn flour dough, called masa, with a filling of your choice wrapped in a corn husk and cooked by steaming. There are several varieties, and can be filled with beef, chicken, pork, seafood or cheese. Roasted chiles, fresh herbs and corn cut from the cob are among the things that can be added to the filling. Desert tamales are also popular. Widths are a personal choice. Some use banana leaves instead of corn husks.

I favor the ones made in Northern Mexico and Southern Texas. They are not quite two fingers wide, have thin masa and a spicy pork or beef filling. A good tamale is known by its wrapper and I sometimes tie them closed with a strip of corn husk, mainly for presentation. The ties can also be used to identify different fillings.

Here is how I make pork tamales.

HUSKS
Bags of dried corn husks are available in most markets in the Mexican food section. They need to be soaked in warm water for about an hour, separated and rinsed clean of any dried silks, and kept moist for rolling in a dishpan.

FILLING
Three ground chili powders (with no other spices added) and one chili powder blend are used to get a traditional flavor footprint that is sweet, smokey and hot. The total amount of the chili powder is 1 cup + 2 tablespoons. Ground chili peppers and blends can be found at www.penderys.com if you can’t find some local substitutes. The filling must be quite robust because the steaming and the masa will buffer the flavor and the heat factor a little.

7 or 8 pounds of pulled pork butt, medium to fine shreds. (The pulled pork can be prepared on the barbecue, roasted in the oven, in a Dutch oven, or a pressure cooker. Pressure cooking is my favorite because it is a real timesaver and the broth is concentrated and wonderful).
¼ cup Chimayo chili powder
¼ cup Tularosa chili powder
2 tablespoons Mulato chili powder
½ cup Top Hat chili powder blend
¼ cup cumin
1-1/2 tablespoons crushed tepin peppers.
1 tablespoon Mexican oregano
2 tablespoons salt
6 tablespoons fresh garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic powder.
Chicken broth & water - about 4 cups total

Place the pulled pork in a large Dutch oven or roaster. Add all of the ingredients except the broth and water, mix in well. Add about half of the broth and water, mixing in well. Bring this mixture to a simmer in order to reduce the liquid, stirring occasionally. Add more liquid at least once more and continue to reduce until the filling is just a little soupy, then set aside to cool. Once the mixture has begun the first reduction, the Dutch oven can be transferred to your cooker, at around 275° grate temperature, to receive a little smoke flavor during the final stages of the reduction.

MASA
Masa is basically made by beating ground corn flour into lard, forming a dough. Buying fresh prepared masa from a Mexican grocer or tortilla shop is preferred. If fresh is not available, dry masa mixes are available in the Mexican food section of most supermarkets. Don’t forget to pickup some lard.

Fresh masa keeps in the refrigerator for a few days and also freezes well, it comes in 1 or 5 pound blocks. Add warm water or broth and work into a dough with a spongy texture. For the mixes, follow the directions on the bag. The dough needs to be spreadable and can be moistened during the assembly if it becomes too stiff.

ASSEMBLY
Everyone has a different masa spreading technique and have a favorite tool. I like a triangular shaped pie serving utensil. A wide putty knife or small triangle trowel works well too. It is best to have an assembly line with one person spreading and another filling and rolling. I like to use a big cutting board for the assembly. And work at the kitchen table. A glass of warm water is handy for dunking the spreading tool.

Remove a few husks from the dishpan and shake off any water. Tear them so that they are about five fingers wide. Husks have a coarse side and a smoother side. Lay one husk on the work surface and spread about 2 tablespoons of masa onto the smooth side of the husk forming a thin even layer. Add about one fingers width of filling onto the masa and roll the tamale closed, then fold the narrow end down. These can be tied with strips of husk or stacked on a tray with the fold down.

My steamer holds about 30 to 40 tamales. Lay the steamer insert on its side and stack the tamales in, open end up. Tied tamales are easier to load and remove from the steamer. Tip: If you are making a small batch, stack in a few rows, put an empty quart Mason canning jar in the center and continue to stack around the jar. Before steaming, put a few inches of water in the Mason jar.

Place a dishtowel over the pot and loosely cover with the lid. This stops condensation from forming on the lid and raining on the tamales. Keep the water at a low boil.

After 45 minutes, sneak a tamale out of the pot and let it cool for three or four minutes. The tamale should separate from the husk and unroll easily (thanks to the lard in the masa). The texture of a properly steamed tamale should be soft but firm. Chances are, the sampler won’t quite be done, but it is a necessary test so you don’t overcook them. Every ten minutes or so check another. For the size I make, a full steamer takes around an hour to be ready.

To reheat, wrap a few tamales in a damp paper towel and microwave.

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Like the looks of these tamales? There are 110 in this pile! Another Guest Pit Boss, SmokinCoyote has a really good how-to page with lots of pictures and has given me permission to post a link to his site.

If you can't find prepared masa, click here for instructions on using masa harina, as well as more good pictures and tamale techniques.

Three Forks Fried Corn

1998-01-01T10:00:00.000-08:00

This is a quick and easy side dish. No, you don't need three forks to eat it, I gave it that name because like a road with three forks, this recipe has plenty of options. No set amounts are listed, I really don't think there is any call for it.

Basic Ingredients

corn - cut fresh from the cob or frozen extra sweet
bacon grease or butter
salt
pepper
sugar - the sweeter the corn, the less sugar you will need

Optional Ingredients

onion - chopped
peppers - chopped
summer squash - sliced or chopped
Lima beans
milk or cream
favorite signature herbs, spices or garnish

For the basic recipe, cut some corn off the ears or use frozen. Heat some bacon grease or butter, add corn, fry over medium heat until it's lightly browned, adding more butter if needed; add salt, pepper & sugar. Stir well and serve.

From the list of optional ingredients I like to saute onion and zucchini before adding corn. Adding Lima beans moves this recipe toward succotash, and the addition of milk or cream at the end (cooking down to your desired thickness) takes it beyond succotash.

Cajun seasoning will really wake this dish up. If you want to move this dish south of the border, try some chopped jalapeno and some Mexican oregano. Topping with parsley and grated parmesan will take it to Italy, sort of. A splash of good balsamic vinegar will get it even closer. Okay you get the drift...the options are endless.

Pig Candied Yams

1998-01-01T07:32:00.000-08:00

I've put a new twist on the basic candied yams, I call it Pig Candied Yams.....this is an easy one and can be done in the oven, but when cooked on your pit the flavors are amazing. I give mine a little smoke flavor and keep the brown sugar on the light side. The butter mixes with bacon drippings for a great back flavor. Here is what you need, and what you need to do to it.

Yams (or sweet potatoes) - Cut in to halves or thirds and par boil until slightly tender, which will allow the skins to slip off. After the pieces have cooled, either dice, cube or slice.

Pig Candy - partially cooked only in oven or smoker. I have a full pig candy write-up in the appetizer section, but for this recipe you basically cook some bacon indirectly at 350° until it is about half cooked (it should be "limp"), then sprinkle it with brown sugar or maple sugar, cook 5 minutes longer and remove from oven or smoker.

Butter

Brown sugar - The amount is up to you. If you go heavy on the brown sugar, you should increase the amount of butter. If the yams begin to brown, cover the baking dish with foil.

Black pepper
Lemon juice
Parsley for garnish

~~~~~~~~~~

Select an appropriate baking dish, wipe with butter or Pam, add your cut up yams, dribble with lemon juice, sprinkle with brown sugar, dot with pats of butter, top with pieces of pig candy, sprinkle with pepper. Go into a 350°-375° oven or pit until the yams are fork tender. Check once to make sure you don't have any sticking problems. Garnish with parsley.

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Pig Candy ready to come off the pit

Complete dish assembled

After about 30 minutes on the Big Green Egg. My baking dish is resting on a legs down plate setter

Stuffed Chicken Breasts

1997-08-10T07:53:00.000-07:00

I really like chicken and this is a great way to turn a boneless chicken breast into something special. It's really easy too, once you do one of these you will be a pro. Actually this is more of a technique than an actual recipe because the fillings are endless, but for the sake of demonstration here is how I did this one.

For my prep, the green onion, garlic and basil was made into a pesto. The red pepper was sauteed until it softened, and the cheese is Gorgonzola.

Pound out the chicken breast (this is a whole breast, but halves work too) between two pieces of plastic wrap, then season the chicken (I used sea salt and cracked pepper), load your ingredients on the inside face. (which is the sticky side of your fillet) and roll up. It may be easier to use a piece of plastic wrap underneath to help in rolling as it won't let the chicken stick to the cutting board.

Slip some cooking twine underneath and make a knot on one end. Advance an inch or two, slip the loose end of the twine around the roll, then back through itself removing any slack. Repeat until you are at the other end of the roll, then make your second knot. If this is not working out, just make individual ties. Give the roll a spray of oil along with any final seasoning.

Here are some half breasts prepared in the same fashion.

This one is cooked direct on a raised grate until the internal temperature of the chicken was 160°. Using a lower temperature fire, you can grill closer to the coals or using a higher pit temperature an indirect set-up could be used. Avoid low pit temps so your chicken won't come out tough.

Depending on your fillings, you may elect to use a finishing glaze or barbecue sauce, just apply it during the final minutes of the cook as it can burn easily (and also burn the string!). Rest 5 minutes, especially if there is a cheese in the filling), snip the string and remove, then slice and serve.

CHICKEN - Skinless Breasts & Thighs

1997-07-17T19:47:00.000-07:00

Chicken breasts and thighs can be barbecued without the skin and are quite delicious. Removing the skin prior to the cook allows the rub to add flavor directly to the meat. Since most of the fat is in the skin, basting the pieces will help keep them moist. Add oil or melted butter to the basting liquid.

FLAVOR BRINING OPTION - Flavor brining breasts is a sure fire way to help them retain moisture and add some flavor as well. A starter flavor brine is below. TIP: Keep the water/salt ratio and experiment with other seasonings. Start with some hot water to dissolve the salt and the rub, then add iced water to chill the brine back down. Use a non-reactive container or a zipper bag and brine for at least one hour or maybe two. If you want to brine longer, just make a weaker mixture by using less salt. More brining information and recipes are on my brine page.

FLAVOR BRINE FOR CHICKEN
1 Quart Water
3 tablespoons of coarse sea salt or kosher salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar or apple juice
splash of soy sauce
splash of Tabasco
sprinkle of rub (Jim Goode's BBQ Beef Rub is a good choice here because it is a low salt rub)

The vinegar, soy and tabasco are optional ingredients which provide a nice flavor for chicken. Feel free to make substitutions.

Following brining, rinse the breasts, then rest at least 30 minutes in the fridge. Then season and cook as described below.

BASTING SAUCES FOR CHICKEN

Basting Sauce # 1:
Only the ingredients for the sauce are listed so you will have to “wing it” depending on how large of a batch you are making. The sauce is essentially a jazzed up chicken stock. Flavor it suit your taste.

water
wing tips
diced onion
chopped garlic
chopped celery
chopped carrot
bay leaf
thyme
salt
pepper
rub
cider vinegar
Worcestershire
corn oil or butter

In a pot add everything above EXCEPT the vinegar, Worcestershire and oil or butter, cover with water and simmer about a half hour. Add a little vinegar and Wooster to taste. Chicken can take a basting sauce heavier in fats. Adding some corn oil or butter is something worth exploring. As with all cooking sauces, keep the basting sauce warm during the wing cook.

Basting Sauce # 2:

1 part apple juice
2 parts cider vinegar
Sprinkle of sea salt
A few drops of Wooster or Soy Sauce

Warm up the liquid and baste wings as needed during the cook

COOKING METHOD:

Remove the skin and sprinkle on a medium coating of your rub of choice. Let sit in the refrigerator for at least several hours. Prepare the cooker for barbecue temperatures around 250° to 275° (at the grate). OPTION: You can raise the grate temperature upwards of 350°, just turn more often. Adding some fruit wood (apple, cherry, etc.) is a good choice for more flavor. Mix and heat the basting liquid. Set up the cooker for either an indirect cook or a direct cook utilizing a raised grate. An hour or so before your cook, apply at least one coat of basting liquid to the chicken, letting it dry somewhat and allowing the surface to become tacky. (the oils will prevent complete drying. If you have brined the chicken, you can just paint on a coating of basting liquid 10 minutes before the chicken goes on the pit.

Start the pieces bone side up, turn after 20 minutes or so and baste. Continue basting every 20 or 30 minutes or so, adding a little more rub as you wash some away. Turn or reposition the pieces only as needed to allow for even cooking. (TIP: So that the basting liquid does not get contaminated from the raw chicken, use a spray bottle or squeeze bottle). Remove breasts when the internal temperature around 155°, and the juices run clear. The USDA safe internal temperature for poultry is 165°, I bend that rule a little. Thighs are removed between 170° and 180°, and the juices run clear. The chicken can be served after a few minutes rest.

I prefer to serve sauce at the table. But if you want to add another layer of flavor to your chicken, paint a thin layer of sauce on the up side during the last 5 or 10 minutes of the cook and let it glaze over. Remove and rest a few minutes and serve.

Skinless chicken is at it's best when rested and served. Here are a couple of options using a foil pan that can be used if your chicken finishes early or if you need to hold your chicken a few minutes.

OPTION # 1 - Basted Chicken: Pieces can be removed from the cooker and placed in a foil pan, mopped with some of the basting liquid, sprinkled with a little more rub, then covered with foil.

OPTION # 2 - Sauced Chicken: Add a little thinned sauce in the bottom of a foil pan, add the chicken and cover.

The Perfect Thigh ~ A Work In Progress

1997-05-27T05:56:00.000-07:00

Usually I do a lot of testing before publishing an article. This time I'm throwing some of my notes together and want you, the backyard cook, to let me know how this is working out for you. The ideas behind this article came from several sources, and as my article takes shape and then comes together, it will be a combined effort. I would appreciate it if you would drop me an e-mail (put "Perfect Thighs" in the subject) with your observations.

UPDATE: The reviews (about 40 of them) are coming in favorable. 6 or 7 folks have told me it's the best chicken they have cooked. The negative comments all involve the time involved in the prep.

~thirdeye~

Chicken was one of the earliest things I learned to cook, and is one of my favorite foods. It's actually one of the most versatile and inexpensive things to cook. I've always had a pretty good handle on cooking it, but a couple of years ago I really started to focus on improvements to my chicken and found out that the best approach is taking baby steps. In other words, changing one thing at a time. This article is all about thighs, actually the perfect thigh. I'm defining the perfect thigh as one that is flavorful, moist, tender, has a nice color and bite through skin. I'm going to start off with the skin, and later move into several variations in cooking methods, as well as some finishing options.

PART 1 - The Skin

Overall, one of the biggest complaints I hear about chicken is the skin. It's either not crispy enough, or it's rubbery. The skin is where I will start. One of the most generally accepted techniques for getting a good skin has always been a hot finish over direct coals. This works well, although with the high fat content of skin, your fire and your timing have to be spot on. Otherwise, you risk burning the skin or drying out the meat... or maybe both. Then there is the Jumpin' Jim Method which calls for marinated thighs to be placed in a pan of simmering sauce when they come off the cooker, which softens up the skin. I've had good success with this technique but frankly, I'm not a sauce guy. A recipe by Julia Child in one of my favorite cookbooks calls for scraping the fat off the underside of duck skin in order for it to crisp up. Hmmmm, how would this work on chicken skin? Well, this is where I started. I would remove the skin from bone-in thighs, scrape it with a knife and toothpick it back in place.

My notes from 2007 show a one line comment by Jeff in KC that said "scrape all the fat off the skin". Later on, my friend Chuck Marting (Bossman) mentioned scraping in one of his articles. Whenever I asked about scraping fat, usually about 2 people in 5 bought into the theory. A competition tutorial known as the Pickled Pig Method also subscribes to scraping the skin, but went one step further in recommending removal of the bone, which makes it easier to replace the skin without the need for toothpicks. See what I mean about baby steps? So here is where I am at to date....

For starters, you will need to stop by the hardware store and pick up a triangle shaped paint scraper. This tool works much better than scraping with a knife. Mine was fairly sharp, but I lightly worked the backside (not the bevel side) with my whetstone to remove any burrs).

Next remove the skin from your thighs. (It's best to work in assembly line fashion, doing all of one function before moving to the next one). For boneless thighs, turn the thigh over and remove the bone. Trim as little or as much of the fat from the thigh as you like. There will be a good sized piece hidden in one of the folds. Trim some of the loose ends or tags of meat. Return the chicken to the fridge.

Lay your skin out fat side up, and sort of stretch it out on the cutting board. Using the scraper, start near an edge and remove a 1" wide band of fat. Repeat this across the width, then advance another inch and repeat. You will get a feel for the proper angle and pressure. I prefer to scrape away from me. Hold the skin with your other hand to avoid slipping. When you are done, trim the loose edges. NEW METHOD: I have started using a 5 X 9 cutting board on top of my regular one. It's about the right size for the skin, plus I can rotate the small cutting board instead of picking up the skin and repositioning it.

The preparation does take some time, but the results are well worth it. I'm thinking that I've done a couple of hundred thighs this way and when I did my last batch of 24I timed the prep from start to finish.... It took me 2 hours, which works out to 5 minutes per thigh. First I removed all the skins and stacked them on a small plate, then I scraped all of them transferring to another plate (these went back in the fridge). To keep the chicken as cold as possible I worked with batches of 8. I removed the bone and the more obvious fat from the thigh, then I lightly seasoned each one, formed it into shape and set it on my tray. When I had all of them seasoned and formed, I added the skins, added a second rub to the skin and returned them to the tray and in to the refrigerator for about an hour before going to the cooker.

When all your skins are ready, take the thighs out of the fridge and season both sides lightly. If you have gone the boneless route, fold the ends under. You don't have to roll it up, just fold. Select any skin and put it back on any thigh, tucking it under on the sides and ends. If I have a skin fit problem with bone-in thighs, I just stretch and use toothpicks to secure it. Lightly season again. Return to the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes.

A flavor option is to use fresh herbs under the skin. A single basil leaf or sage leaf adds a lot of flavor. For presentation purposes, position it on the center of the thigh because the skin is so thin the leaf will become visible during the cook.

A side note here, all of this fat removal really drops the calories on the average thigh. It looks like 275 to 300 calories can be knocked off each thigh. This should be a big incentive to try this out.

PART 2 - The Cook

What is the best method? In my Egg, I prefer thighs to be cooked using a raised direct set-up with a small fire. I like 250° to 275° grate temperature. I generally start them skin up for the first 15 or 20 minutes, then turn them skin down so I can get some color on them. I'm pretty picky about the color, so I may rotate the grate or move them in or out of a hot zone. I want the color to be balanced. While they are skin down, I also may lightly baste them. Once the color is right I turn them skin up again...... At this time the thinness of the skin will be obvious, it's not quite transparent, but you can easily notice the difference between it and skin that has not been scraped. Treat it with care when using tongs, or it may slip or tear.

In my drum cooker, I tend to run a little hotter, say 275° to 325°. I use the same turning procedure as above.

If you want to do an indirect cook, you can increase the grate temperature to 325°.

If you are going boneless, you can expect them thighs to cook faster than bone-in ones. But like with most things, don't rely on time alone. You need to temp them and monitor the internal temperature through the finish. I also take note of the appearance of the bottom side as well as the firmness (using tongs). Bone-in or bone-out, I generally serve my thighs at an internal temperature of 175° to 180°. You will want to pull them off the pit several degrees early to account for the carry over rise in temp while they rest. Because I have removed so much fat, I don't go much higher, because I might dry them out.

PART 3 - The Finish

Crispy skin or a sauced finish are the options here. The objective is to have bite through skin with either choice. Since going with the scraped skin, I have not really done the direct hot finish I mentioned earlier. This doesn't mean it's out of the question. Just be really careful if you go that route. Once I'm close to the internal temperature I want, I size up the tenderness of the skin by probing with a toothpick. I generally go for the crispy option, so if I think the skin needs a little more crisp, I just turn them skin down. Sometimes I brush on a little butter or margarine to give them the wet look.

For a sauced finish, I mirror the Jumpin' Jim method. I prepare a tray with about 3/8" of thinned and warmed sauce in it, with some margarine added. Then I either dunk the thighs or paint on a coating of sauce. (since the skin is not pinned on with toothpicks, be careful with the handling). The pan gets covered and goes back on the cooker or into the oven for about 10 minutes. I've done test cooks with the skin down and skin up. When I used this method on non-scraped thighs, I liked the skin down in the pan. Now that I'm scraping the skin, I like them finished skin up.

PART 4 - Fine Tuning

The Jumpin' Jim & The Pickled Pig Methods have deep roots in competition barbecue. It would be a fair guess that many folks have used them as a guide, then added or subtracted a personal thing or two.

In addition to the sauce finish I mentioned, the Jumpin' Jim method calls for marinating the chicken in Italian salad dressing for several hours minimum, (and up to overnight), then cooking for about an hour skin up, and about an hour skin down. When I plan on scraping the thighs, I remove the skin and bag it separately, then marinate the thighs in another bag. The fat keeps the skins "workable" and I scrape them about an hour before the prep and cook.

An interesting part of the Pickled Pig method calls for braising the boneless thighs in a pan of seasoned Parkay on the cooker until they set up, (15 to 30 minutes) then transferring the thighs onto the cooking grate. I have tried this a couple of times, but that was not enough to decide how I like this step. Parkay is a popular adder to sauces, basting liquids and injections, so this braising step has merit and is worth exploring.

In this photo, I underestimated the amount of Parkay, and had to add more warmed margarine to bring the level up. Having a pan this size on your cooker lets you know in a hurry if your deck is level or not. I had to shim the pan with a piece of flavor wood.

Part 5 - Cupcake Pan Chicken

The basic idea for this method was introduced to TV audiences by Myron Mixon, barbecue champion and one of the TLC Pitmasters on The Learning Channel. Viewers got a peek at it on the show as well as on late night television or clips from You Tube. By basic idea, I mean the use of a cupcake pan early on in the cook to set up the shape of the chicken. Myron has his combination and amounts of seasonings and butter, as well as specific times that work on his cooker.

I have just done my first cupcake chicken and I'm going to share a step-by-step description of what I did, and then discuss the results. I have used some of the techniques discussed above. First you need the necessary equipment...

My experiment started with bone-in skin on thighs. I removed the skin and scraped the fat off (see above for details) and lightly sprinkled sea salt on the meat side. The skins were stacked on a saucer and placed in the refrigerator. Next, I removed the thigh bone, and trimmed most of the obvious fat, including the quarter sized kernel that hides in the flesh. The thighs were flavor brined for 2-1/2 hours, rinsed and patted dry. I seasoned them lightly with a dry rub. The skin was replaced, slightly stretched and tucked under each thigh. A light sprinkle of black pepper was added to the outside of the skin. These were returned to the refrigerator for 3 hours.

Because I had been in conversation with cooks that have already tried this method, I had made note of the fact that some went skin up in the cupcake pan, and some went skin down. I did two each way to see what worked best for me.

Some kind of liquid is needed as the thighs are poached (or braised) a few minutes to set their shape. I used a dab of Parkay in the pan and atop the thighs. (Another choice may be some flavored oils, broth or even some wine). The pan went on the cooker (mine was about 375°) on a raised grate. You could use an indirect set-up too (like a heat shield, or coals on one side of a kettle - pan on the other, or only one burner on your gas grill, and the pan on the unlit side). After about 15 or 20 minutes the chicken began to firm and was browning slightly, and the pan was removed.

Now is when it got real easy, I had an established fire, my set-up was still raised direct and my chicken was partially cooked. I started off with the thighs skin up on the grate. I turned it skin down to put some color on the skin and balance out the doneness, then finished it off skin up. My target internal temperature was the low to mid 180°'s. It took another 20 or 30 minutes to finish cooking.

Observations: The shape was very consistent, and I could not tell a big difference between the ones I started skin-up or skin-down in the pan. The skin had a great texture, was tender and slightly crispy. The meat was moist, and the doneness was very even across the cross section. They really looked nice when sliced into medallions, and even though I'm not a sauce guy, I could see a drizzle of sauce across some medallions as being very attractive to guests.

I liked the fact that these can be prepped way ahead of cooking time, and could even be placed in pans ready to go on the cooker. I also liked the fact that there was essentially no tending during the first part of the cook, and the fact that a lot of moisture was locked in. The second part of the cook was also very easy and I believe I could have dialed in any amount of crispness, or put a very nice glaze on them. Because I scraped the skin and removed most of the fat I really reduced the number of calories in these thighs.

The biggest downside is the prep time. Scraping the skin and de-boning is time consuming until you get the hang of it. It's best to work on one task at a time, but in small batches keeping the rest of the thighs refrigerated. Another downside is that these things are too easy to eat....

Lemon Breasted Beer Can Chicken

1997-05-25T14:27:00.000-07:00

I've never been much of a fan of beer can chicken. This fad caught on really quick, and when I first saw it in a cooking magazine, I gave it a try. It was kind of manly, cooking on a beer can....and the bird did look kind of cute perched on the can. Later on, when I first saw a beer can chicken with boobs, I thought it was a lot cuter, but I still had some problems with the beer can technique.

At first, the idea of liquid in the can keeping the bird moist sounded good, but in reality heating that liquid takes a lot of heat, and it takes a while to get hot, especially when you consider that the cold chicken itself acts as insulation. The first modification I did to the technique was to heat up the liquid before pouring it in the can. This helped a little. But the real problem was in the cook itself. Actually it was the doneness of the breast meat and the dark meat.

I'm really picky with my chicken. I like the internal temperature of white meat no higher than 165°, which means I pull it off the pit about 160°. My dark meat on the other hand, is perfect when it's cooked to 175° or 180°. No matter what I tried I could not get those ranges of doneness on a beer can chicken. I tried several different pit temperatures and tried both indirect and direct methods. The next modification was to abandon the can all together and just use the stand. This worked a little better, but not good enough. The last thing I tried was to invert the bird, yes I opened the neck cavity and cooked it upside down. That didn't do it for me either. So I gave up went back to cooking white and dark halves (cut at the hip joint), quarters, or individual pieces. Then I could pull them off when they were at the perfect doneness.

To solve this same problem when cooking a whole turkey, a famous Egghead, Mad Max Beyond Eggdome and a famous food scientist, Harold McGee, both recommend icing down the turkey breast so it will have a lower temperature when the cook is started. In other words, the dark meat gets a head start, and when it reaches 170°, the breast is only about 160°. This works on chicken as well. Just set the bird, breast down in a tray of crushed ice for an hour.

Now, I generally put herbs, seasonings and lemon slices under the skin of my turkey and chicken breasts anyway, so it was a simple step to adapt the breast icing techniques from above using the end thirds of a lemon. Just freeze the lemon and slip it under the skin about an hour before the cook. Or ice down the breast and use a partially frozen lemon. The one bonus for using the lemon is that as it thaws is does weep lemon juice which flavors the breast. You can also fill lemon cups with garlic butter and freeze them for some self basting action. Other folks have told me they use limes in the same fashion.

The cook is simple enough. Prep the chicken with one of the icing options. Position the lemon inserts under the skin. Season the bird however and with whatever you like. Use a pit temp somewhere between 275° and 325°, and use some kind of a heat shield like a drip pan, pizza stone (preheat it for 20 minutes) or a plate setter. You could opt for a raised direct cook over a smaller bed of coals. Cook until the breast is 160°, remove and tent the bird. Confirm that the dark meat is above 165°, I like to measure that around the leg to thigh joint. And also take note of the juices, they should run clear. At 325°, with an indirect set up my birds take about an hour and 15 minutes. Raised direct is a little shorter. If you are not a skin eater, or have brined the bird specifically for smoking, cook at 250° for two and 1/2 hours or so. The skin will NOT be as crisp, but the meat will be very flavorful.

To insure crisp skin skin, you could ramp up the pit temp halfway through the cook....just watch the color so you don't burn it.

This particular cook was an entry in one of the BBQ Brethren Throwdown contests. I was lucky enough to take first place with it.

CHICKEN - Wings

1997-05-01T19:46:00.000-07:00

One of the most popular things for grilling are chicken wings. They are cheap and everybody likes them. There are many ways to cook them and about a hundred ways to season them. Wings are a great appetizer and can also be a main course. Here is just one way to prepare them for grilling. Additional methods like flavor brining or marinading will be added later.

You can buy wings already cut up into “wingettes” and “drummettes” but I like to start with the whole ones.

First, cut off the wing tip and save it for basting sauce # 1. (other basting sauces are below) Next cut out the triangle of skin between the wingette and the drumette, and also cut off the blob of skin at the end of the drummette.

Cut the skin at the joint. This will let them break apart a little easier while eating them.

Season the trimmed wings and the wing tips with your favorite rub, and put them in a plastic bag. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. When you are ready to start your cooker, use the wing tips to make the following basting sauce. Only the ingredients for the sauce are listed so you will have to “wing it” depending on how large of a batch you are making. The sauce is essentially a jazzed up chicken stock You will only need enough sauce to baste the wings 3 or 4 times.

Basting Sauce # 1:
water
wing tips
diced onion
chopped garlic
chopped celery
chopped carrot
bay leaf
thyme
salt
pepper
rub
cider vinegar
Worcestershire
corn oil or butter

In a pot add everything above EXCEPT the vinegar, Worcestershire and oil or butter, cover with water and simmer about a half hour. Add a little vinegar and Wooster to taste. Chicken can take a basting sauce heavier in fats. Adding some corn oil or butter is something worth exploring. As with all cooking sauces, keep the basting sauce warm during the wing cook.

Basting Sauce # 2:

1 part apple juice
2 parts cider vinegar
Sprinkle of sea salt
A few drops of Wooster or Soy Sauce

Warm up the liquid and baste wings as needed during the cook

Cooking Technique #1 - Set up your cooker for a direct cook with a grate temperature around 350°. Using a raised grate is optional and it will prevent flare ups. Using smoking woods is optional as well. Baste the wings 10 minutes before they go onto the cooker and each time they are turned, being careful not to wash off the rub. The wings will get “puffy” after about 15 or 20 minutes.

In the next 10 minutes the wings will brown up. Sneak one off for a sample, then serve when done.

Cooking Technique #2 - Cooking raised direct with a 300° pit temp gives you a little better control on color and doneness. Cook time will be around an hour.

Cooking Technique #3 - Cooking indirect. You can cook wings indirect too at any pit temp from 250° to 350°, the higher pit temps will give you crispier skin.

Turkey Drumsticks

1997-04-09T12:06:00.000-07:00

Turkey is good just about anytime but a whole bird is not always a practical cook. Turkey breasts are featured on their own page, now I want to visit about drumsticks, specifically smoked drumsticks. More specifically, drumsticks which have been cured in a brine then hot smoked. Instructions for both fresh and store-bought smoked drumsticks are below.

These have a variety of uses. Because of the smokey flavor and ham-like texture the cure imparts on the meat, these are very good for flavoring when cooking beans or greens. When the drumsticks are cooked in beans, the meat will be fall-off-the-bone tender. It actually resembles pulled pork. Following smoking, they can also be braised for an hour until the meat is pullable and used for sandwiches or in soups or salads.

Fresh Drumsticks

Fresh turkey drumsticks

1 gallon water

2/3 to 3/4 cup of Morton's kosher salt

2 tablespoons Morton's TenderQuick

1/2 of an onion, sliced

several cloves of garlic, sliced

handfull of brown sugar

cracked pepper or pepper blend

peppercorns

Heat the water and and dissolve the salt, sugar and Tenderquick. Add onion, garlic and pepper. Allow to cool. You can hold back on some water and add ice to speed up cooling. Submerge and brine drumsticks in a non-reactive container for at least 12 hours and up to two or three days, refrigerated. The longer the time, the more pronounced the flavor and texture change from the curing agent. The longer cure will also result in a saltier finished product. Following brining, rinse and soak in cold water for 1 to 3 hours. Dry off and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, overnight is better.

Smoke at 225° to 250°. I do them until they are at least 175° to 180° internal. Plan on 3 to 3-1/2 hours in the smoker. Because of the brine with Tenderquick, the longer times using lower temperatures are quite safe. Check the internal temperature after 90 mminutes and adjust your pit temperature if needed.

Store-bought Smoked Drumsticks

This is a real time saver! If you can buy the commercially smoked drumsicks at the market, just do a second smoke on them to really wake up the flavor. These will only take around 2 hours or so at 225°.

Braising & Pressure Finish

Braising is a long, slow cooking process, which won't work if you try to cook too quickly, or at a high temperature. On the stovetop I guess you could describe it as as "below simmer", and in the oven (which is the best) try 225° to 250°. Again you want the liquid just below a simmer, so if you use a pyrex baking dish you can see what is going on. At my altitude, my boiling temp is 203°, so your braising temps may be different than mine.

Any liquid including water will work, a diluted broth is a good starter. You need a baking dish or a large skillet, add the smoked drumsticks, then add enough liquid to bring the level about 1/3 of the way up the meat, cover the skillet or baking dish and cook until just tender. (Use a toothpick to check tenderness) Don't let the liquid cook off, you can add some HOT liquid if the level gets too low. Save some of the liquid to put back into the shredded turkey if needed.

Another good way (and quick too) to finish these off is with a pressure finish in a pressure cooker. I arrange them meat end down, add 1-1/2 cups of water or broth and seal the pressure cooker. I use 5 to 6 minutes of pressure time, with natural release. Natural release means letting the pressure cooker drop on it's own at the end of the pressure cooking time. This might take 10 minutes or so, but it does not shock the meat like the quick release method would. With a pressure time this short, even one minute will make a big difference in the finished product, so you might want to experiment to get it dialed in for the texture you want.

TURKEY BREAST - Preparing For Roasting or Smoking

1997-04-08T23:16:00.000-07:00

Certain meats are traditionally cooked at special times during the year. A standing rib roast at Christmas, a corned beef brisket or pastrami for St. Patrick’s Day and a turkey at Thanksgiving are wonderful meals. I think we overlook turkey as an option for a regular cook. I don’t know why, turkey is almost like chicken. Turkey is cheap, it’s healthy and it’s easy to cook. Whoa, I know the answer ….’cause they is so big! Relax, you don’t have to cook a 20 pounder. You can buy quarters, legs and breasts. Here is one way I like to do breasts. They are a quick cook and will be moist and juicy. Slicing will be very easy.

Turkey breasts are usually frozen and they need a few days in the refrigerator to thaw slowly. After thawing, unwrap and rinse in some lemon water. If you want to flavor brine it, mix up a solution and brine between 4 and 48 hours in the refrigerator. If you are smoking the breast you may want to try a stronger brine. After rinsing the brine, rest between 4 and 24 more hours in the refrigerator. If you don't elect to brine, just go to the next step.

First, the breasts need some trimming to make slicing easy and also for presentation. You will need some kitchen shears and a butcher knife.

Lay the breast down on your cutting board and cut along the ribs and lay the backbone forward.

With a knife, trim out the wish bone and cut the backbone off.

With the shears, cut down the edges of the breast plate and remove a V section of the plate along with the wishbone. Trim up any other loose areas of meat or skin.

Turn the breast over and tie with some butchers twine. All that is left is adding some rub and on to the cooker.

Cooking Method for Roasted Turkey Breast - Use an indirect set up and roasting temperatures around between 300° and 350° at the grate. Use wood if you wish. Start with the breast side down. This will allow the side up time to seal over and also give the skin some grill marks. In about a half hour, turn the breast side up. You can baste the skin now if you wish, or give it a light coating of olive oil. In another half hour or so, insert your cable thermometer into the center of the breast. If you are a baster, do it again now. Monitor the internal temperature until it is 140°, then close down your vents in order to let the the internal temperature creep up to around 155°, then remove the breast leaving the thermometer in place. (no moisture leaks!) Tent with foil and rest for 10 to 15 minutes. Watch the remote thermometer and you will see it will rise 8° to 10° during the rest. If crisp skin texture is not an issue, you can double wrap in foil and rest/hold in a pre-warmed cooler for up to 30 or 40 minutes.

If you have brined the breast it will have retained more moisture. You can take a brined breast to 165° and it still will be nice and juicy. If the breast is to be chilled and used for sandwiches, the higher internal temp will produce a slightly firmer product.

With an average sized turkey breast, I generally allow 2-1/2 or 3 hours for cooking and resting.

Removal of the back and the breast plate will make slicing very easy and neat. You can start on one side and slice right up to the center bone with ease.

Pastramied Turkey Breast - With Help From Old Dave

1997-04-07T05:24:00.000-07:00

Because of their size and ease of cooking, Turkey breasts have always been a favorite at my house. I usually brine them, then either smoke them (using a lower pit temp) or roast them (using higher pit temps). Several years ago I decided to play with a pastrami technique and seasonings on my turkey breasts. The first step was to modify my standard poultry brine accordingly with more pepper, coriander and garlic. I also began to season the breast under the skin as well as another sprinkle of seasoning on the outside surface of the skin. This helped deliver more flavor to the breast, but because a turkey breast is a thick piece of meat, the flavor did not reach all the way inside. I increased the strength of the brine, adjusted the amount of Tenderquick, and also played with longer brine times, hoping to develop this technique. I was never really satisfied.

As I often do once I get the framework for an idea, I started posting about the turkey pastrami on several of the barbecue forums I frequent, admitting I was sort of stuck in the mud on this one. Among the many responses and suggestions I received was a short two line message from Dave Stamper along with his favorite brine recipe, which by the way is a variation of Shakes Honey Brine. This brine contained honey, cloves and pickling spice which were ingredients that I had not tried.... Okay, I liked the sound of this... but when I read the instructions one word jumped right off the page INJECT. That was what I was missing, and now my idea just got some much needed traction. And Dave was on his way to becoming a Guest Pit Boss. The first (and most important) step when using a benchmark recipe or technique to improve one that you are working with, is to try it without any changes. When I tried Dave's injection it was wonderful, the bird was moist and flavorful.

Dave has posted for a number of years as "Old Dave", and more recently as "Dipstick" on many barbecue forums and maintains an excellent blog called Old Dave's Po Farm. He is a real ambassador to barbecue, not only by mastering several different cookers, developing numerous cooking techniques & recipes, but he has been a mentor to myself and many, many others over the years. If you have ever smoked cheese, made pulled beef, barbecued on multi-levels or baked anything in a cooker, chances are you have benefited from some of Dave's knowledge. Here is the recipe I received from Guest Pit Boss, Old Dave.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I like a brine based off of "Shakes" Injectable Brine. This is the recipe that I use most often for all of my poultry.

32oz clean water (non-chlorinated and not softened)
1/4 cup pickling salt
2 teaspoons of TenderQuick
1/3 cup clover honey
3-4 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon pickle spice

Heat it up in a sauce pan but do not boil. For a 12-15 pound turkey, inject 2 oz in each leg, 2 oz in each thigh, and 4 oz in each side of the breast. 16 oz total per turkey. I like to do the injection at least 8-10 hours before the fire.

Dave

To add another layer of flavor to his injectable brine Dave uses an Italian marinade and a special rub. The full details on his procedure can be found HERE

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Now, back to my pastramied turkey breast. Remember, pastrami refers to a piece of meat that has been cured, generously seasoned with a pepper based rub, then smoked. It can be served warm as a main meat or can be served cold on an appetizer tray or on a sandwich.

This process will take aroud 40 hours so here is a sample timetable for a Saturday cook, broken down into six easy steps. This should help you when planning your cook. More details on each step are below.

Thursday Evening:

1. Build the Turkey Pastrami Rub (a two part rub)

2. Fold back the skin from the turkey breast. Coat the breast meat with turkey pastrami rub, replace skin and refrigerate for 16 to 24 hours.

3. Mix the injection and refrigerate it in a non-reactive container

Friday Evening:

4. Fold back the skin, inject the breast with the chilled pastrami brine, relpace skin and secure with tooth picks. Sprinkle seasonings on the outside of the skin

5. Refrigerate for 8 to 12 hours

Saturday Morning

6. Smoke the turkey breast.

Here is the complete process in detail:

The Rub

Pastramied Turkey Rub - This is a two part rub containing the standard pastrami rub I use for smoking corned beef + garlic pepper (store bought). I wish I could tell you why mixing two rubs together works so well for me, but I can't. Contrary to the name, most garlic pepper mixes contain salt also, maybe the salt helps in the delivery of the flavors.

Rub - Part 1 - Pastrami Rub

4 tablespoons freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground coriander
1 teaspoon granulated garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons Canadian/Montreal Steak seasoning
1/2 teaspoon thyme, dried
1 teaspoon paprika

Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly. This makes more that is needed for one turkey breast. The remainder can be stored in a Mason jar or in the freezer.

Rub - Part 2 Bottled Garlic Pepper - Store Bought

The Injection

Using Dave's injection recipe as a foundation, the addition of white pepper and a reduction in the amount of honey put me on the mark. (After many experiments, I decided against adding any of the seasonings I was using in the external rub)

Injectable Pastrami Brine - This will make enough for 4 turkey breasts

32oz clean water (non-chlorinated and not softened)
1/4 cup pickling salt
2 teaspoons of TenderQuick
1-2 teaspoons white pepper
1/4 cup clover honey
3-4 bay leaves
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon pickle spice

Heat it up in a sauce pan but do not boil. Then cool down.

Procedure

Peel back the skin on the breast, Rub a 50:50 mixture of garlic pepper and pastrami rub on the flesh and fold the skin back on, secure with one or two toothpicks to avoid shrinking. Refrigerate for 16 to 24 hours. Mix the injection, let it cool, then transfer to a non-reactive container and place in the refrigerator.

The next day, unfold the skin, trying not to disturb the layer of rub, and inject 4 ounces of the chilled brine into each side of the breast if you have a large breast (>5lbs), and 3 ounces if you have a smaller (<5lb). Replace the skin, but stretch and secure the skin with toothpicks. The breast goes back into the
fridge for 8 to 12 hours.

When you are ready to smoke, you have options with regards to pit temps. I like to start out with a low temp, around 250° for at least an hour. After that I either stick with that pit temp or ramp it up higher for the rest of the cook. The upside to staying with the 250° pit temp is the breast will be smokier. The downside of smoking at lower pit temps is the skin... it will be chewy. A higher temp finish will allow the skin to crisp up a little. You can even spray on some oil or paint on a light coat of butter & oil to aid browning. If fact you could even bring the breast inside into a 400° oven for a few minutes to crisp up the skin too.

Now for the big question.... "thirdeye, how long will this take to smoke?" Well, the answer is not that simple. The weight of breasts is not a constant, and pit temps are not a constant. For an average breast, started at 250° and finished closer to 300°, I usually plan on 3 hours for the smoke. Keeping the pit temp at 250° will take more time, as will a big greast. Just trust your instant read thermometer and don't cook by time alone.

When it comes off the smoker it will smell really good. You will want to sneak a slice.... DONT!!. Give it at least 15 minutes of resting. Following a rest, the breast can be eaten as a main meat. I also enjoy chilling them overnight for sandwiches or to use on an appetizer tray.

March Madness 2007

1997-03-12T14:21:00.000-08:00

March Madness Tournament For Eggheads

Here are the final results of the 2007 March Madness Tournament For Eggheads:

1st: Jake - adjustable rig with spider
2nd: BurntOfferingBBQ - spider with cast iron grid
3rd: BYC - $25 of your favorite rub

Here are the tournament picksheets compiled by tjv.

Spreadsheet Test Post

1997-03-12T13:23:00.000-08:00

Tom, this is a good size. I'll just cut the number of rows I need for each picture. Even though these shown are the same picture, the actual ones will have consecutive line numbers. First picture 1 through 25, second picture 26 through 50 and so on.

Slow Cooked Drumsticks, Thighs & Wings

1997-03-06T08:30:00.000-08:00

An alternate to grilling chicken is cooking it slowly over a small bed of coals. This method will require a raised grate to give you some distance between the coals and the chicken. This method works best on drumsticks, thighs or wings. Breasts do not have enough fat content and can dry out.

Use only enough lump for 3 or 4 hours of burn time. In my Big Green Egg the lump is barely above the holes in the firebox. After lighting, spread out the coals to eliminate any hot spots. Allow your fire and smoke to settle down, and adjust your grate temperature between 225° and 250°. This will take 45 minutes to an hour.

Add chicken on the raised grate and turn every 20 minutes or so. (I start thighs skin down) When turning, rotate as needed to get even browning and crispness on the skin. In about 90 minutes, remove a wing for sampling. Thighs and drumsticks usually take me around two hours, but I monitor tenderness with a toothpick.

NOTES:
If you want to add sauce, do it during the last 15 minutes of the cook. For marinating, try oil based Italian salad dressing for several hours. For preparing whole wings click here.

Cuban Mojo

1997-03-04T18:11:00.000-08:00

Sour Orange Mojo

6 to 10 cloves of garlic.
4 or 5 green onions or 1 red onion.
Several tablespoons of olive oil.
1 tablespoon salt.
1 teaspoon crushed pepper, or to taste.
1-1/2 teaspoon ground cumin.
2 teaspoons Mexican oregano.
Dried peppers like scotch bonnet or red chili flakes to taste.
1 cup sour orange juice.

Optional ingredients include:
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro
2 teaspoons sherry vinegar
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
Curry powder to taste will make a West Indies flavor
2 tomatillos, roasted, cored and crushed will make a mojo verde
1 jalapeno, cored and crushed instead of the dried peppers

In a molcajete or your mortar, smash the garlic, onion, peppers, salt, spices and any optional ingredients into a coarse paste. Warm the olive oil to medium heat. Pour the oil over the paste and let sit a few minutes then transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl (this step is critical). Wisk in the orange juice and vinegar (if used). Adjust the level of black pepper and salt.

For marinating I like to use a zipper bag adding the meat first and enough mojo to coat nicely. If any mojo remains, add it to some chicken breasts or pork chops and freeze in zipper bags, then you have a head start on your next meal.

Marinating times are up to 2 or 3 hours for bone-in chicken pieces, up to 4 hours for pork chops or flank steak. Country ribs (cut from the shoulder), pork loins, smaller pork roasts should go at least overnight and up to 3 days. Loins and roasts can be scored to allow more penetration of the mojo. Experiment with the times to suit your tastes.

Green Chile Sauce

1997-02-20T12:28:00.000-08:00

This is a meatless sauce for enchiladas or smothered burritos and the like.

Green Chile Sauce

2 pounds of fresh roasted (skins and seeds removed) or frozen roasted green chile peppers.
10 - tomatillos
1 - bunch cilantro
6 or 8 green onions including tops, chopped
1 - 14 ounce can chicken broth
garlic salt
garlic powder

In a food processor, add the chile's, cilantro and tomatillos then pulse to a medium puree. (still some small chunks)

Transfer to a stock pot, add the broth & chopped onions, then simmer for about 2 hours, cooking off some of the liquid. Add garlic salt and powder during the last 30 minutes to taste.

Beer Pan Chicken aka Fallen Down Drunken Chicken

1997-01-06T09:10:00.000-08:00

If you have read my Lemon Breasted Beer Can Chicken article, you know the issues I have with cooking beer can chicken, and why it's not really one of my favorite ways to cook a bird.

Take a look at most any cookbook on your shelf. There are not many recipes older than oven roasted chicken, the combination of herbs and liquids is a classic one.

Of course some flavor smoke makes it better. Beer Pan Chicken is just like beer can chicken, except the bird is horizontal instead of vertical. In this recipe, the liquid is beer, but it could be wine, or yes even some broth. I season my chickens under the breast skin, then on the outside of the skin. Use whatever rub you like. For additional flavor, add some fresh herbs or lemon slices or flavored butter under the breast skin. The whole bird can be brined if you like them that way. If you are a fan of injecting.... go for it. Feel like using some aromatics like green onions or cloves of garlic inside the cavity? I say "why not"? It's a good idea to pin the skin down with some toothpicks to avoid it shrinking. Tie the legs too. Any pan will do, the deeper they are the less liquid will cook off, and the more you will have for basting. You can buy disposable pans especially for roasting chicken, they are nice and deep. Not bad considering the easy clean-up. These have a plastic dome cover, a bonus for resting and transporting.

A bulb baster works really good for basting, don't worry you will have plenty of juice. Place the bird in the pan breast up, add about a half cup of beer and put the whole outfit in the cooker. At the one hour mark, check the liquid level and add some if needed (but I rarely need to).

TIP - To make sure you don't over cook the breast you could freeze the lemon slices before inserting inder the skin, or you can lay a bag of crushed ice on the breast for an hour to chill it down. But as you will see later on the doneness of the breast and thighs comes out prety close without any extra help.

COOKING

The cook is simple enough. Get your cooker in the 300° to 325° neighborhood, and use some sort of indirect set-up. Notice in my picture I'm using my Big Green Egg. I have a 1/4 sheet pan for a heat deflector and I'm using some ceramic feet to add some air space between it and the roasting pan. You could use a pizza stone or some fire bricks too. In a kettle, put your coals all to one side and cook on the other, or put them on both sides and cook in the middle of the grate. I rotate the bird at least once to balance out the doneness and the color. If your bird starts to get too dark, just tent it with foil.

COOK TIME & OBSERVATIONS

In my Big Green Egg at 325° the cook time for an average chicken is 2 to 2-1/2 hours. The breast and thigh seem to heat up at the same rate until they reach 100°, then the broth in the pan (and the natural juices from the bird) begin to simmer and the thighs rise in temp. At the 2 hour mark I have measured the breast in the 150°'s and the thigh in the 170°'s. When the thighs are 175° to 180°, the breast is usually 162° to 167°.